jppaul

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Statement

As an artist, photographer and journalist, I've passed through many phases searching for one ideal medium to encompass both visual and semantic expression.  That’s proven to be an elusive quest but my current works provide a fitting platform as I meander along the parallels and tangents of contemporary aesthetics. In a world dominated by sound bites and video clippets, visual artists are the benefactors of the medium's connective immediacy.

Throughout my portfolio you will find intuitive reactions to what I've observed, works evolving from an amalgam of curiosity, concern and compassion compiled throughout the years. Some are my experiences, some culled through observing others. Whether I'm working on a piece of art or a writing assignment, I strive to treat all subjects with the integrity they deserve even though it is my true perspective which will inevitably surface.

 I’m not overtly political yet many pieces encourage the viewer to reconsider social themes through subtleties rather than aggressive confrontation. They are not statements per se, rather open windows for discussion. I feel no impulse to impose my personal ideas on anyone. My approach is more subdued, dare I say more respectful? 

I don't consider my work to be paintings, nor photography, nor digital art although I employ all three. I prefer to call it visual communication rather than any  “ism,” leaving others to determine into which category I may fall at any given time.  While I'm generally open to new mediums and materials, I use no excrement, infected blood or other bodily fluids to capture attention that otherwise my works would not. And if I need more than a paragraph to explain any particular work, I obviously haven't done my job visually.

Similar to historians who suggest that artists should draw from personal influences and their surroundings, I encourage contemporary artists to embrace the digital tools of today  and explore new platforms of creative expression. Like many 21st century contemporaries, my primary desire is to create works that truly represent our generation and connect with the viewer at levels beyond the mere technicalities of any particular medium or genre.

JP Paul

Background

I began investigating art forms in my late teens in a makeshift B&W darkroom. Years later I explored Cibachrome and alternative processes in a larger studio, performing chemical-based image transfers to every imaginable substrate from silk and metal to clay or clothes.  It was during this period when I started to combine photo, painting and drawing elements into mixed media works since no single medium provided the expressive flexibility sought.  Profound  influences include Robert Rauschenberg’s combines and his more recent print-to-canvas transfers.

In the late eighties and early nineties I worked as a features correspondent for a highly respected English international newspaper in South America. The In-depth research and reporting provided a treasure trove of personalities, storylines and concepts from which I continue to draw. As a journalist I was liberated to witness the world from the other side of the cultural and social divide. While not always pretty, the impact and respect I hold for many who inspired me during this period still carry forth in my work as I strive for message purity and aesthetic integrity. I'm captivated by many flavors of communication and search for methods to unite them so that none of my inclinations are denied.  I often recall a comment by Pablo Picasso, who stated "...often while reading a book one feels that the author would have preferred to paint rather than write; one can sense the pleasure he derives from describing a landscape or a person, as if he were painting what he is saying, because deep in his heart he would have preferred to use brushes and colors." 

  In the nineties, parallel to bill-paying careers in publishing, technology and digital imaging, I had the opportunity to assist a number of fine art galleries  working alongside some of Latin America's leading contemporary artists. While primarily "self-taught" in the standard sense,  my artistic education has been as enlightening as any.  Dozens of renowned artists, architects, professors  and photographers became my unofficial mentors, offering personal guidance while opening my eyes to a plethora of real-world techniques and concepts.  This led to the adoption of a mixed-media approach and a combination of real, implied and intangible imagery. I search for methods to incorporate diverse influences to allow my works to converse with different viewers on multiple planes.

By the new millennium it seemed clear to me that the lines between various traditional art forms were blurring.  The art world of the 21st century has assumed a much broader footprint and now readily synthesizes the organic with the synthetic, digital with analog and the visual with verbal. I feel each new series allows me a fresh opportunity to re-emerge through various concepts, media and techniques. These are truly exciting times.

A decade after digital imaging revolutionalized many aspects of visual production, there remains an ongoing debate about the role of computer technology in the creation of fine art. Some still proclaim that real painting can only be performed with oil and sable brushes. Real oil painting yes, put today the act of "painting" or producing 2D art can be performed in a number of ways with a variety of devices. While I'm envious of the great oil painters and carbon drawers, I respectfully disagree with the art world's reluctance to accept new mediums as fine art, especially during this period of global development that has been explicitly characterized by technology. I equate the battle fought decades ago by photographers. They eventually gained respect after the art world  came to terms with the new medium and defined guidelines to determine the aesthetic and technical qualities of the best fine photography. I find the need for this process to be counter-productive, nevertheless it seems to be a necessary rite of passage and is underway for digital-produced art.

Digital does not imply "lesser,"  "easier,"  "less pure"  or even "fake" as one critic recently called computer-generated fine art. The same rules apply regarding light,  color, form, negative/positive space, focus, movement, balance, etc., etc., etc. Some argue that digital is actually more difficult since the artist must first master the traditional art rules  plus learn an entirely different set of tools, software and equipment to produce artwork digitally. I won't go that far since I still believe that oil painting is the granddaddy of all visual arts. Suffice to say that digital fine art is different but nonetheless valid.

Equine Extracts  60 x 90in 2007

Capsule Summary:  Artist, photographer & digital publisher  |  Former international journalist and features correspondent  |  Worked and studied closely with renowned painters in North & South America, representing some since 1988 | Artist gallery liaison since 1988 |  Former digital imaging specialist for major photography firms | teacher of darkroom, alternative processes, image transfers,  Adobe PhotoShop, FrontPage,  professional scanning and digital equipment.

Selected Showings & Publications : 1988-1992 Daily Journal & Sunday Plus, Caracas  | 1994 Art Miami | 1994 Hemisphere Gallery | 1995-97 Galería del Mar, Vancouver, BC  | 1997 Stanley Park Fair, Vancouver, BC | 1997 - Minolta CA | 1998-2007 El Taller, Montevideo, UY |  2007 LACDA Snap to Grid  Los Angeles CA | 2007 MOCA Digital Virtual Museum of the State University of NY, Brooklyn NY | 2007 La Spezia Espacio Cultural, Montevideo, UY | 2008 MOCA-SUNY Annual Competition | 2008 March Featured Works - ARTREVIEW | 2008 Saatchi UK Showdown March Collective |  2008 Artists for the Ocean Project

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"The artist is the antenna of the race."

Ezra Pound

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"In just a short period of time living in Montevideo, JP Paul has been able to capture and express the essence, the idiosyncracies and the intricate nuances of Uruguayan culture." Alvaro Matonte (Uruguayan National School of Fine Arts)

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“It’s hard to tell to what degree JP Paul’s work is impacted by the computer but the art is outstanding in my opinion and he makes an original and persuasive statement defending his art.”

Don Archer

MOCA-SUNY  Director

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"JP Paul has a definite affinity towards the fields of architecture and photo imagery that he amply demonstrates through tight compositional effects, intricate balance and a keen eye for capturing the offbeat hidden details" Architect Luis Secco

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"Good art involves things that quicken the heart."

 John Baldessari

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"JP Paul masters the techniques of montage & collage that many others try but fail to employ. His use of transparency, depth and color are spectacular." Paolo Bonomi (Italian-Uruguayan nationally-acclaimed master printer and  award-winning photographer)

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"There's a need for art that becomes a model for integration and maturity, an art that speaks to adults with subtle reflectiveness."

Prof. Donald Kuspit

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"Unique new works for our market, JP Paul is a welcome addition to the Uruguayan art scene."

(Uruguay Association of Professional Artists ) APEU

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"Only connect."

 E.M. Forster

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"A very appealing show by an artist, JP Paul, who clearly is not afraid to explore or reinvent. Never stuck to one genre, his work is a refreshing attempt to continue searching for  new methods and forms of visual expression."

Dr. and Dra Soria

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"Laws alone cannot secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population."               

A.Einstein

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"Breathtaking works that invite you to  walk inside. JP Paul captures subtleties of our city and society that I've seen a hundred times but never stopped to appreciate."     Maestro Tarranco

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"I work my way because I can keep putting more and more things in -- drama, anger, pain, love, a figure, a horse, my ideas about space. Through the viewer's eyes these become emotions or ideas. It doesn’t matter if they differ from the artist's feelings as long as it comes from the painting which has its own integrity and intensity.”  

    William de Kooning  

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