Artist Biography
Contemporary American painter Shara Hughes was born in 1981 in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her undergraduate degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and later attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.
Hughes is best known for her colorful, invented landscapes that reference multiple art movements, such as Symbolism, Fauvism, and Surrealism, and defy conventional depictions of light and space. “I work intuitively,” Hughes has said about her process. “I don’t mix up palettes or lay anything out, so when I’m painting, I’m reacting to what I’ve just done. Working this way makes it exciting for me to paint because I never know what’s going to happen. I think that’s why my work seems alive and playful.”
Throughout her career, Hughes has participated in numerous group exhibitions at venues such as MASS MoCA and the High Museum of Art. In 2017, she was included in the Whitney Biennial, and in May 2018, she completed Carving Out Fresh Options, a large-scale mural in Boston commissioned by the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy in partnership with the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. Also in 2018, her painting Narnia (2017) was acquired by Phoenix Art Museum, with funds provided by the Dawn and David Lenhardt Emerging Artist Acquisition Fund.
Hughes lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
