Chunn’s paintings commonly expose the political arena and portray the power of the media to define and control public opinion.
Her work is mostly painting focused on narrative, cultural references and social problems, history, and symbolism both in the global community.
[4] Chunn’s most recent painting series, Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear, on which she has worked since 2004, focuses on the terrorism crisis in America and the panic it perpetuates.
Following her 1999-2001 News Stories series of large-scale paintings based on news-breaking stories, Chunn was credited with inventing “a form of history painting for our time.”[5] A September 2004 Art Price article maintains that “during her 25-year career, Nancy Chunn’s consistent subject matter and stylistic diversity conveys a full maturity in her artistic vision.
Her works clearly display integration of unique painting techniques, and, through a delicate, modern aesthetic, reveal a complex social conscience, which one can only rarely experience today.”[6] Chunn was a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow.
[7] She was named Honoree of the fall 2007 Jennifer Howard Coleman Distinguished Lectureship and Residency at Otis College of Art and Design.
2007 Ben Maltz Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, Nancy Chunn: Media Madness, November 3, 2007 – January 8, 2008.