Manuel Hughes and I met in a very unconventional way, at a Newark airport after both waiting for a very long time for a flight to Paris. The conversation was easy and we became fast friends. After I realized he was an artist, I had a lot of questions and he was a generous historian. He was happy to tell me about his life in St. Louis, about a knife attack, and his illustrious art career, of which is inclusion in the Whitney, City Museum of St. Louis, State Museum of New Jersey, to name a few, a book on tools, since many of his paintings depict highly rendered tools, and representation by multiple galleries over the years. He has been a resident /artist of New York and now Paris for the last 20 years. I’ve deviated from my norm of inviting artists of Houston into my studio to do my podcast but I was in Paris and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get to know Manuel better,… he is 80 years old and he is more vibrant than a 25 year old and I was so interested in what he had to say. He was so nice to invite me to his home and that’s when the light bulb went off to do a podcast on the go! Its a short and sweet as I was a guest in his home for un cafe, and I didn’t want to wear out my welcome. Hopefully we will meet again. I was able to enjoy many of his paintings in his home and meet some of his family, it was an enjoyable and happy day for me. I have so much gratitude to Manuel for allowing me to record part of our visit.
Website: manuelhughes.com
Contact manuelhughes@gmail.com