Paul Paiement: Nexus 2.0.1: 251 West 19th Street
NEXUS 2.0.1: Contemporary Landscape Paintings by Paul Paiement
251 West 19th Street, New York
October 10 – November 23, 2024
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 10, 6 – 8 pm
“You might say the distinction of the artificial from the natural is a very artificial distinction. The constructs of human beings are really not any more unnatural than bee hives and bird’s nests. They are extensions of ourselves.”
– Alan Watts, British/American Philisophical Entertainer
Ethan Cohen Gallery is thrilled to present NEXUS 2.0.1: Contemporary Landscape Paintings by Paul Paiement. Paiement’s Nexus series of acrylic on wood panel paintings is his second significant body of work spanning over his 30-year career. As in his Hybrids series of paintings, Nexus explores humanity’s interaction in the natural world. Nexus is the merging of the linear, practical, mathematical, technological, architectural inventions of humans with the vast, infinite, holistic aspects of nature. This exhibition will feature fifteen of his latest medium to large-scale Nexus paintings.
Paiement’s beautifully rendered landscape paintings are interrupted by architectural shapes. In some, the natural beauty appears inside the shape of a contemporary home. In other paintings, skyscrapers and industrial parks obscure the tranquil vision and appear as ghostly plexiglass overlays. In doing this, Paiement reverses the common notion that humans are destroying the environment. His art reminds us that our global population is continually expanding into open spaces. And, that every inch of our planet is mapped and charted. The artist doesn’t place judgement on this. He paints the architectural forms with the same enthusiastic brush and attention to detail as he does the landscape. This suggests that we are creators of the world. We are an integral aspect the evolutionary process.
In addition to numerous private collections, Paiement’s work is included in the permanent collections of JP Morgan Chase, Brenau University, the Lancaster Museum of Art and History, International Arts and Artists, Kaufman and Broad Homes, Wellington Management Company, and the Hechinger Collection. His work has been published and featured in numerous publications and media outlets, including Art in America, Artillery Magazine, White Hot Magazine, New American Paintings, ARTnews, Artscene, Artforum, Art and Cake Magazine, the Huffington Post, Artweek, the Los Angeles Times, New Art Examiner, and Los Angeles Magazine. Paiement received his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He is a tenured professor in the Art Department at Cypress College in Orange County, California. The artist lives and works in Long Beach, California.
Press Contacts:
Dan Schwartz: danschwar@gmail.com
Lara Kamhi: lara@ecfa.com
Isaac Aden: isaac@ecfa.com