For over 30 years, Manuel Hughes has focused on painting household objects, which he has collected over the years. He focuses on the details of the objects and the formal relationships between the pieces in each arrangement. From draped fabrics to antique cans, toys, instruments and boxes, his straightforward portrayal of ordinary and mundane items set against a nondescript background ask the viewer to share in the pleasure he takes in each quirky and unique form.
His most recent endeavors, which he refers to as “Arkansas Memories” are a series of still life paintings that incorporate memories of his childhood with historical African American objects that represent the vast, sometimes disturbing, often beautiful images of both past and present life as an African American man in America.His paintings are in the collections of several museums including the Whitney Museum of American, the Newark Museum, the Everson Museum, the High Museum, the Studio Museum of Harlem and the City Art Museum of St. Louis.
His work is represented by Hubert Gallery and O.K. Harris in New York and by Hammond Harkins Gallery in Ohio and Martha’s Vineyard.