19 Sept 14th–Sept 20th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | he uses color. The contrast of a floating head or a three-eyed fish painted with bright, inviting colors is an amazing mix. I hope to collect many more of his pieces,” Henderson says. Over the last few years, Hunt has also been producing zines. He met Matthew Thompson of the zine Fluke in 2016 at what was then a Kinko’s Copy shop on Central Avenue. Thompson remembers the meeting well. “I look over and I see this guy ... You know how a jazz drummer is just all over his kit or a sous chef is just dancing with the pots and pans? ... That’s exactly what I thought of when I saw James. He was working with his drawings and his copies. He was like a drummer, just methodically doing his thing. I thought, ‘I gotta know this dude right away,’” Thompson says. The two decided they would collabo- rate that day, and indeed they have. Thompson dedicated Fluke #16, which is still available at fluke.bigcartel.com, to Hunt, using his art on every page and including an interview with him as well. Hunt has contributed art to several more issues of Fluke, including the upcoming Fluke #20, which will be out in September. Also out in late September will be NXOEED #3, as well, which Thompson will publish under Fluke Publishing. Thompson says that Hunt’s desire to do a zine of his own influenced him to start Fluke Publishing here in Phoenix. “It was right before the pandemic hit and I met up with him at The Lost Leaf and I asked him what he was working on. He said he was going to do a zine, like 25 copies, and I said, ‘How about you let me publish it and I’ll get it out there all around the country? That’s how Fluke Publishing started, so I owe James for Fluke Publishing’s birth.” According to Thompson, Hunt’s NXOEED zines are among his best sellers and have been a huge hit. While the two were in San Francisco in June for Hunt’s art show at Fallout SF with Dominic Davi of the band Tsunami Bomb, they even walked past the Bound Together Anarchist Bookstore on Haight Street and saw one of Hunt’s NXOEED zines in the store window. The future looks bright for Hunt. He’s been featured on multiple shows outside of Phoenix in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston, and has friends hiding his art around the world. Christina Nunez of The Darts is a good friend of Hunt and, according to Hunt, she has hidden things for him while her band toured in Europe. NXOEED #3 drops in late September and then on Oct. 21, Hunt is doing one of his “sticker drop” shows at Danelle Plaza in Tempe, where he also has a semi-perma- nent art installation. Hunt invites local and national artists to share stickers featuring their work and usually has a few surprises up his sleeve for these occasions as well. Even though he’s done a ton of inter- esting things, Hunt isn’t jaded. He’s thoughtful, loves his hometown of Phoenix and is a truly dazzling artist. He also sees things the way they are, even if one of those things is not often himself. “As an old punk, you kind of figure out how to make it work. Sometimes you’re just barely keeping it together, and some- times ... well, we’re not barbarians. I guess we’re lucky people.” Various untitled artworks by NXOEED. The Invisible Artist from p 17
