Simon Gunning and the Southern Louisiana Landscape

October 1, 2016 – February 5, 2017

Australian-born Simon Gunning left his native country in the 1970s with plans to attend a graduate program in England for painting. On his way, he traveled through the United States and to New Orleans, where he was captivated by the city’s urban landscape set amongst a lush backdrop of tropical flora and cypress swamps. Gunning moved to New Orleans in 1981 and began painting its neighborhood streets and later, the natural scenery of South Louisiana.

Gunning’s paintings depict a range of local subject matter, such as the Creole cottage-lined streets of the city’s historic neighborhoods, passing barges on the Mississippi River, and the serenity of two fishermen in the Honey Island Swamp. This exhibition will highlight Gunning’s mastery of the Southern Louisiana landscape, which he has been painting for over thirty years. 

image credit: Simon Gunning, Drying the Nets, 2010, Oil on canvas, 66″ x 60″