Born: 1989, Peoria, Illinois
Based in: Los Angeles, California
Instagram: @_hunter
Biography
Hunter Harvey’s early experiments in creativity were less about formal art and more about exploration — turning skateboards into furniture, filming safari scenes with pets, or building miniature cities out of frozen carrots on the kitchen table. “There weren’t many other kids my age in the neighborhood,” he explains. “So I found ways to keep myself busy.” That improvisational spirit still lingers in his work today.
Though he initially planned to become a doctor like his father, a last-minute decision to take an art class during his final year of high school shifted everything. He followed that impulse to community college, then moved to Chicago to study at the Art Institute. “I went to the museum every day on my lunch break to study the collection,” he recalls. “A lot of those paintings have made their way into my own work.”
Later earning an MFA at the University of Chicago, Harvey also ran a gallery out of his storefront apartment. That DIY energy, coupled with a love of art history, shaped a practice that’s playful, deeply considered, and visually rich. He now lives and works in downtown Los Angeles, where the color palette, environment, and spirit of the city have sparked an entirely new rhythm in his work.
Artistic Practice
Harvey’s paintings blend airbrush drawing and Flashe paint — a medium he favors for its deep pigmentation and matte finish. “It gives me a smooth line I can’t get with a regular brush,” he says. The result is a tactile, light-driven surface that feels at once intentional and dreamlike.
He describes his style as “fruitcake Americana,” a phrase that captures both the cultural pastiche and the celebratory absurdity within his work. Themes of leisure, lust, and joy recur throughout — from horses and whales to Fred Flintstone and gay bears. “Smokey the Bear was a constant muse since I moved to California,” he explains. “But after the fires destroyed so much of LA, I can’t seem to find joy in painting him anymore.”
Humor, nostalgia, and sensuality drive the narrative logic of his pieces. “I only paint when I want to paint,” he says. “If I’m not in the mood, I’ll play with clay or reorganize my studio. Sometimes I go to the beach and draw or walk through the Fashion District until I feel that spark again.”
Exhibitions & Projects
Harvey’s solo exhibition Go West opened at Schlomer Haus Gallery in San Francisco in March 2023. His ceramics work was recently featured in Dream Feelers (2024), a group show at The Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, California, alongside artists like Emily Yong Beck, Meegan Barnes, and Haylie + Sydnie Jimenez. “That show meant a lot,” he says. “It gave me real confidence in my sculptural work.”
Other group exhibitions include A Line To You (2024) at NOON Projects in Los Angeles. He is currently preparing for a solo show at Pamplemousse Gallery, an artist-run space in Richmond, Virginia.
