Selected Exhibitions

Contemporary Black Artists in America, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, 1971

Black Artists in the New York Scene, Acts of Art Inc., NY, 1974

Contextures, Just Above Midtown, NY, 1978

Manuel Hughes, James Little: Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Gouaches, Gallery 62, National Urban League, NY, 1982

Forty Years: Robert Blackburn and the Printmaking Workshop, Inc., Metro-Dade Cultural Center, Miami, 1988

Black New York Artists of the 20th Century: Selections from the Schomburg Center Collections, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 1999

Manuel Hughes, known to his friends as “Manny”, was born in St Louis, Missouri, and at the young age of 8, enrolled himself in the People’s Art Center.  He eventually studied at the University of Missouri (BFA, MFA), and was initially an abstract artist, but turned to realism.  He is best known for his realist still-life paintings of objects he found and purchased at flea markets in New York and Paris.

From the artist’s bio on manuelhughes.com:

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 asks the viewer to share in the pleasure he takes in each quirky and unique form.