The Hunt

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“The Hunt” is a collaborative multimedia project between artists Mark Hanavan and Paul Loehle. The finished installation will be comprised of seven pieces which can stand independently but will function optimally when viewed as a collection.  The complete work is inspired by the Unicorn Tapestries from 1495-1505, permanently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mark and Paul formed a natural partnership as a result of creating work with intertwining processes and subject matter - most of which focuses on the traditionally drawn figure combined with contemporary context.  As with their previous works, this new project poses questions of our individual interactions and relationships with technology and social media; specifically, how these interactions manifest themselves in our physical and mental realities.

In the Middle Ages, tapestries were among the highest forms of art,  largely for the extensive amount of labor that went into each piece, and also for the amount of time that was commonly spent viewing and discussing them - often a social event. “The Hunt” pays homage to this history by utilizing traditional artmaking practices of oil painting, sculpting and casting, and building frames by hand... culminating in a process that means for the viewer to "feel" the weight of the hours spent on its creation.  Ultimately while the oil paintings, ornate frames, and sculptures may evoke a feel of the familiar, the addition of bizarre and kitsch  elements such as pixels, amorphous flesh forms, unicorn hats, and low tech elements of string and glitter may at times feel offputting and at odds with one another... causing the work to exist in an "uncanny valley" that the viewer is compelled to explore with caution and skepticism.

The installation by Hanavan and Loehle consists of 3 larger painted portraits in ornate tabernacle frames replete with low relief carvings and free-standing statuary, and 4 smaller oval pieces where the statuary takes center stage. In the original “Unicorn Tapestries,” plants are used symbolically and in abundance, utilizing a style known as "Millefleur," or "thousand flowers." The Unicorn is generally agreed to represent Christ, though themes and even the true artist are shrouded in mystery and metaphor - with the viewer left to engage in some of their own interpretation... and "hunt" for clues.   In similar fashion Loehle and Hanavan offer an ambiguous tableau without a clear subject beyond possibly the viewer themselves.  The figures are draped and heavily laden with layers of symbols which interweave, giving clues to bits and pieces of meaning... but likely no clear answers...

Ultimately, Hanavan and Loehle hope the viewer will walk away with more questions than answers - about the Self, digital realms, isolation, and our never-ending quest to be seen and understood.  As with The Unicorn Tapestries, the artists invite questions about the true subject of each piece - the human figure, the grotesque blobs of flesh, or possibly something more evasive.

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