Challenging Perceptions by JP Paul
Starting in 2007, JP Paul created several series of mixed-media works on canvas featuring diverse, story-driven messaging that were simultaneously inquisitive, thought-provoking, occasionally disturbing, and regularly misinterpreted. Partial human bodies were reduced to abstract forms and intertwined with other elements and props, including discarded mannequins, plants, flowers, pots, vases, bottles, animals, and sculpture plinths that served multiple purposes beyond their principal representational function. The original series was named “Compromised”, one of several series that comprised most of the independent artist’s output between 2007 and 2015.
Thereafter, the multi-discipline artist explored organic materials and alternative processes in purely abstract paintings and non-representational mark-making studies that featured physical applications rather than overt storylines. Toward the end of this period, a lifelong goal of writing his first novel brought with it a desire to further explore some of the original stories and statements initiated in the first Compromised series.
"Untitled VI" from the Challenging Perceptions Series. 2024, Mixed media on canvas, (60 xx 60 inches 152 x 152cm)“Challenging Perceptions” brings JP Paul back full circle to previous studies of the forces and effects of variable perception, marginalization, and misinterpretation as they relate to the human struggle to reclaim control of one's life in the face of social and political pressures on freedoms, liberties, the rights of women, minorities, struggling families, displaced war victims, refugees, and asylum seekers. Divisions based on identity surface both contextually and visually, with many of the symbolic abstractions featuring multiple dichotomies in the form of visual chasms and contradictions between beauty and pain, power and fragility, and strength versus submission.
While some may give pause with the latent sexuality in this series, on closer examination —and after twenty years following the artist's growth — the works are celebratory and inquisitive rather than exploitative. The symbolism behind intertwined bodies, vases, and flowers represents lost opportunities, support, and respect rather than the slightest shred of misogyny. According to Paul, many of the human forms are purposely exaggerated as a counterpoint and criticism of ourselves, particularly the male gaze. Other bodies throughout all phases of the series are actually male or androgynous, thereby representing the struggles of all genders and minorities rather than only women.
"Untitled III" from the Challenging Perceptions Series. 2024, Mixed media on canvas, (100 x 60" | 254 x 152cm
According to JP Paul, "In 2007 we were planning yet another transcontinental relocation, this time to the United Kingdom. I never felt that I'd exhausted all avenues with the original Compromised series, but I was without adequate studio space to work on this magnitude of mixed-media work for well over a year. Once we resettled, other priorities dictated the path for the next few years, so I'm thrilled the stars finally aligned and I was finally able to revisit this body of work. I'm also working around the edges with smaller tangential works that relate to the core."
"Untitled IX" from the Challenging Perceptions Series. 2024, Mixed media on canvas, (80 xx 60" 205 x 152cm)
The artist gives himself a wide berth for this series in terms of content messaging as well as his application of diverse materials and techniques. Perhaps this explains the depth and breadth of what promises to be his most consequential collection to date. Better known for series that rarely surpass six to twelve pieces before Paul gets an itch to explore other ideas, "Challenging Perceptions" already includes over thirty works with more full-sized canvas works and drawings on paper to come.
JP Paul has always straddled the line between analog and digital techniques since his early days as a photojournalist when he actively explored alternative processes in both his physical darkroom and the early years of digital imaging. “Challenging Perceptions” epitomizes the artist's desire to harmonize all of the above. His canvasses are hand-primed and layered with combinations of everything from thick acrylic gels and paint to partially erased carbon markings and smudges, watercolor or chemical washes, and thin stain layers to maintain transparency and textural consistency. Some images are partially printed on the artist’s in-house printers while others are spot silkscreened or transferred via gel or acetone, all depending on the specific effects sought. Drawn portions are applied directly with acrylic markers while others are drawn with a large Cintiq tablet before printing. Certain elements, such as some of the flowers, were originally scanned live on a Heidelberg flatbed scanner before being transferred to large canvases. At over five feet by up to eight feet, they are some of JP Paul's largest works to date.
"Untitled XIII" from the Challenging Perceptions Series. 2024, Mixed media on canvas, (80 xx 60" | 205 x 152cm)In many ways, "Challenging Perceptions" serves as a culmination of twenty years of work that embodies JP Paul's abstract, symbolic, and representational phases.
"Untitled XXI" from the Challenging Perceptions Series. 2024, Mixed media on canvas, (90 xx 60inches 225 x 152cm)
"Untitled XXX" from the Challenging Perceptions Series. 2024, Mixed media on canvas, (60 xx 60 inches 152 x 152cm)