shawn huckins: twitter and sms 18th century portrait paintings

‘gw’s comment: rolling on the floor laughing’, 2011 by shawn huckins acrylic + pencil on canvas 36 x 33 in

american artist shawn huckins has created ‘an american revolution revolution’. the painted collection portrays 18th century american historical figures with abbreviations typical to text message and twitter exchanges written over each work. huckins’ jovial critique includes the current methods of communication in his direct juxtaposition of both ultra-modern linguistic trends and the painstaking effort and detail accomplished in each painted piece. through this comparison, the artist explores the 21st century social media revolution in the context of the 18th century political revolution. huckins reconciles the notion of a free society being politically able to ‘indulge in the luxury of such introspection’ and wonders ‘has the complacency of our political freedom blinded us to the potential our ancestors fought for?’

‘technology influences how much we know and what we believe, as well as how quickly and intelligently we convey our ideas. but does how we communicate govern the value of what we communicate? the physical act of typing very fast on small devices has undeniably impacted spelling, grammar and punctuation, encouraging a degree of illiteracy that has become the new social norm.’ -shawn huckins

‘to sarah morris – i don’t know how you got sick! we haven’t even done anything in like a month, sad face: mr + mrs thomas mifflin’s cyber tiff’, 2012 acrylic on canvas 53 x 40.25 in

‘eleazer tyng’s laugh out loud laugh out loud total bust squint face’, 2011 acrylic + pencil on canvas 36 x 33 in

‘facebook status updates, tweets, texting acronyms – that permeate today’s popular culture.‘ -shawn huckins

‘henry pelham’s jocular tweet: to dante – if i’m just a friend, why do i know what your lips feel like??’, 2011 acrylic on canvas 44 x 36 in

‘henry pelham’s jocular tweet: to dante – if i’m just a friend, why do i know what your lips feel like??’, detail

‘mrs. ezekiel goldthwait: laughing quietly to myself’, 2012 acrylic + ink on canvas 36 x 33 in

‘mrs. joshua henshaw ii, (catherine hill’s post: ha ha, evil wicked grin!)’, 2011 acrylic + pencil on canvas 30 x 28 in

‘verplanck’s post on american moralism, (like duh obviously, it’s a complete waste of time)’, 2011 acrylic on canvas 53 x 40 in

huckins in his middletown, connecticut studio, 2011 ‘gw’s comment: rolling on the floor laughing’ in progress

via hi-fructose