Landscape painting carries centuries of baggage – colonialism, romanticism, ecological nostalgia. Shara Hughes acknowledges none of it. Born in 1981 in Georgia, she paints landscapes that could never exist, in colors nature never produced, with a freedom that feels genuinely liberating.
The Artist: Imagination Unchained
Hughes studied at the Rhode Island School of Design and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Her influences range from Matisse to Philip Guston to outsider art, but the synthesis is entirely her own. Represented by David Kordansky Gallery and Rachel Uffner Gallery, she has built a practice of remarkable consistency and evolution.
The Work: Vibrant Impossibilities
Her 2024 exhibitions – "Tree Farm" at Galerie Eva Presenhuber (June-July), group shows in Seoul, and solo presentations at her galleries – featured works like "Bigger Person," "Be a Good Girl," and "I'm a Fan." Trees twist impossibly; suns multiply; colors vibrate against each other with joyful aggression.
The Breakthrough: Norton Museum Survey
"Inside Outside" at Norton Museum of Art (November 2025-Spring 2026) will present 30+ works spanning 15 years – the definitive mid-career survey. A JFK Airport Terminal 6 commission (2026) will bring her work to millions of travelers.
Why Now? Joy as Resistance
In anxious times, Hughes's unapologetically beautiful paintings offer something necessary. Not escape, exactly, but permission – to imagine differently, to feel freely, to find pleasure in visual experience.
Conclusion: Painting Joy
Shara Hughes proves that landscape painting can still surprise us. Her rising institutional profile reflects an art world hungry for color, imagination, and unironic beauty.