When was the last time you had fun in an art gallery?

A.T. Hun Art Gallery in City Market is founded on the philosophy of having fun. Named after a Monty Python skit, A.T. Hun is the gallery of artist Chuck Hamilton and currently hosts work from over ten artists, including Steve Schuman, Katie Hazzard and Chuck Hamilton (seen below).

No white walls. No eerie silences or snobby receptionist. Often on the weekends Hamilton is around, pounding on the piano and singing aloud, making viewers laugh and talk about the art.

Even the art itself is exciting. There’s so much of it and in a variety of styles. There is tourist targeted art, yes, but little of it. Works from James Dean’s Pete the Cat series are there, as well as Hamilton’s The Big Lebowski series of paintings and prints. Schuman’s vibrantly bright animal portraits hang among his Savannah landscapes—renditions with a bit of a surrealist imagination.

So much of this gallery is a reflection of Savannah—a wide variety of characters in a small space, it’s easy to walk around in and there’s lots of great stuff to look at. They’re also open late—I realized this after a friend and I had gone to an evening reception at a more traditional gallery. We left before the reception was over; the art on the walls was…. nice but the atmosphere a little uninviting.

"Les Nuages" by gallery owner Chuck Hamilton

Leaving the gallery for City Market, we stumbled upon the A.T. Hun Gallery lit up and open on a summer night. We stepped inside. The vibe between my accomplice and I transformed immediately as we laughed and discussed our opinions of the art. The works there brought out stories from his life, from mine. And maybe that’s not the point of an art gallery but really—shouldn’t art inspire life as life does inspire art? Art should inspire conversation and emotion and thought. And I’m not completely opposed to the white cube gallery concept—I’m just happy there’s a gallery with more life and personality nearby.

[Images courtesy of Chuck Hamilton]