PROJECT ONWARD

George Zuniga b. 1982, Chicago, IL

George Zuniga's bold compositions and swift strokes, rendered in pastel, charcoal, and pencil, are examples of Artism, a term Zuniga coined to describe the work of an artist with autism. A self-taught expert on Cold War-era military armaments, television newscasters, Japanese animation, and heavy-metal music, George is an obsessive collector of information, both visual and auditory. Constantly holding his well-thumbed stack of computer printouts and wearing earphones for his constantly-playing Sony Walkman cassette recorder, George is a prolific artist whose portraits are honest and vibrant. In 2006 George, along with his fellow artists at Project Onward, participated in the Anti-Cruelty Society's Sixth Annual Animal Images Art Exhibit, where he discovered his new favorite subjects: cats and dogs. His highly stylized portrayals of pets display whimsy and humor, and help to make George one of Project Onward's most successful artists. His work is in a number of public and private collections and he has shown at galleries across the city of Chicago and in New York City.