Paul Somers

Paul Gerard Somers is an interdisciplinary artist working in fiber, sculpture, painting, drawing, and performance. Somers was born in Dayton, Ohio, and has lived in Indiana,Alaska, Massachusetts, Texas, and New York City, before settling in Chicago. He received a B.A. from Ball State University, and an MFA from The University of Chicago. Recent solo exhibitions include: “MANDATORY VALUE,” Ignition Project Space, Chicago,(2022); “NO WAKE,” Leslie Wolfe Gallery, Chicago, (2022) ; “CRACKED C -7 FOR THE WIN,”Gospel Flat Farm Gallery, Bolinas, California, (2017)

 

“My work is based on a personal investigation of societal institutions, rituals and the exploration of their influence on our culture. I am interested in examining automatic and collective beliefs and how they impact and shape individual behaviors. My work evokes memories and feelings of childhood.

 

I question the boundaries of masculinity within contemporary society and if and when the toys must be put away. Often times my work resides in the realm of the pathetic. I celebrate the reject and the dysfunctional,a rejection of a part of us. I examine closer the disregarded and the beauty in the disenfranchised. ”

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