Born in Hamilton, ON. Lives and works in Paris.
The intimate portraits by artist Paul P. can easily seem out of place and time. The young men he draws or paints come equipped with a beauty and elegance from another era, perhaps lodged stylistically some time in the 1950s Canadian Model Physique magazines or from the 1970s Blueboy magazines. His models, chosen from gay archives, the scrap heap of the commercial imagistic world or his compositing imagination, exhibit the look of pre-AIDS wonderment. His elder contemporaries may be Reginald Marsh and Paul Cadmus under the influence of the photogenic lens of a George Platt Lynes.
Paul P.'s works also project a timeless quality in their construction. He borrows from Titian in both his classic use of cross-hatching and the haunting Old World settings reminiscent of the misty calle off Venice's Grand Canal. Stretch your viewfinder stylistically and you can locate Caravaggio's subjects from art history books along with Greek and Roman gods. To their credit, Paul P.'s finely wrought portraits can resemble Old Master compositions without falling into caricature.
Paul P. presents five recent paintings.
www.ropac.net
www.marcselwynfineart.com