Charles Lenny Lunn, a 34-year-old nonspeaking autistic artist from Bethesda, Maryland, is making his powerful voice heard in a solo art exhibition titled “Nonsense and Hopeful Songs: My Inner Fight to be Heard. ”
Each of his bold, striking acrylic paintings is paired with a poem or message he composed, letter by letter. Together they tell the story of powerful self-advocacy, identity, and redefined connection.
The exhibit opens to the public on May 17, 2025, at Lost Origins Gallery in Washington, D.C. and marks the debut of a visionary artist finding creative ways to express himself while challenging others to rethink what it means to communicate.
In a unique exhibit, Charles Lenny Lunn uses paint, poetry and spelling to redefine what it means to be heard.
This work gives words to my struggling mind-body connection. Ideas come when I think of words. Painting is not about thought. It’s body moving freely.— Charles Lenny Lunn
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, April 22, 2025 /
EINPresswire.com/ -- Charles Lenny Lunn, a 34-year-old nonspeaking autistic artist from Bethesda, Maryland, is making his powerful voice heard in a solo art exhibition titled “Nonsense and Hopeful Songs: My Inner Fight to be Heard. ” The exhibit opens to the public on May 17, 2025, at Lost Origins Gallery in Washington, D.C. and marks the debut of a visionary artist finding creative ways to express himself while challenging others to rethink what it means to communicate.
Born with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (PMS) - a rare genetic condition linked with autism, speech apraxia, and developmental challenges - Charles does not speak. He communicates through a powerful combination of visual art and spelling using a letterboard, with the assistance of a Communication Partner (CP). Each of his bold, striking acrylic paintings is paired with a poem or message he composed, letter by letter. Together they tell the story of powerful self-advocacy, identity, and redefined connection.
“This work gives words to my struggling mind-body connection,” Charles shares. “Ideas come when I think of words. Painting is not about thought. It’s body moving freely.”
The exhibit is co-curated by Lost Origins Founder Jason Hamacher, independent curator Sarah Tanguy, and Charles himself.
“This exhibit is more than a gallery show - it’s a shift in how we understand voice, autonomy, and inclusion,” Jason Hamacher explains. “I like art that challenges us; art that raises questions and casts doubt on convention. Charles’ work confronts the viewer with the intangible. I want this exhibit to make people question what it means to ‘share your voice’ and wonder if communication is as obvious as it seems.”
Charles’ journey has been anything but expected. “When Charles was 10 months of age, they told me he would be no more than a vegetable and would never get off all fours,” his mother Lorie Peters Lauthier explains. “They said it would be best to put him in a home. Today, he can communicate the brilliance that lies within him. He has emotions, thoughts, and feelings - he just expresses them in a different way.”
In conjunction with the exhibit, Charles will also release a book of 100 of his original paintings and poems, titled “Nonsense and Hopeful Songs: My Inner Fight to be Heard.” Charles is also collaborating with Drexel University to explore clinical testing for spelling-based communication - a method that generates controversy for some, even as it gains national attention in places like the growing platform The Telepathy Tapes, where Charles is scheduled to appear in the documentary film.
“I see the text that Charles writes as eruptions from his inner world,” says Sarah Tanguy, the exhibit’s co-curator. “Equally passionate, they function to me as both stand-alone poems and complementary messages to the paintings. They mirror an urgency and a grasp of daily and global events that’s uncanny. I have no doubt of Charles' agency, having witnessed him create words from pointing to individual letters on a board.”
“I now can share exactly my thoughts,” adds Charles. “Getting a diligently not mindful world to listen is another story.”
EXHIBIT DETAILS
Title: Nonsense and Hopeful Songs: My Inner Fight to be Heard
Artist: Charles Lenny Lunn
Location: Lost Origins Gallery, 3110 Mt. Pleasant St NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC
Exhibit Dates: May 17, 2025 - June 8, 2025
Media Preview: Friday, May 16, 2025
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Each of his bold, striking acrylic paintings is paired with a poem or message he composed, letter by letter. Together they tell the story of powerful self-advocacy, identity, and redefined connection.
The exhibit opens to the public on May 17, 2025, at Lost Origins Gallery in Washington, D.C. and marks the debut of a visionary artist finding creative ways to express himself while challenging others to rethink what it means to communicate.