Couldn't find a thread on him, and since he has done the illustrations for the S/S 06 Dior Hommes campaign I thought it would be appropriate. He's definitely one of my favourite artists among the "new photorealists" along with Charles Anastase, Cedric Rivrain & Alexandra Compain Tissier.
------
Born:
1977 Hamilton, ON
Education:
BFA York University, Toronto, 1996-2000
----
Quote from an article in the toronto star (www.thestar.com) fashion section Feb. 2, 2006.
Dior's new look
DAVID GRAHAM
FASHION WRITER
Paul P. is still a little bewildered that Hedi Slimane, the world's most directional men's fashion designer, wanted to use his gay p*rn-inspired art in the current Dior Homme spring/summer 2006 advertising campaign.
That's not to say the 28-year-old Hamilton-born artist, known internationally for his homoerotic figurative studies, isn't honoured by the joint venture.
In the campaign the artist's pencil drawings of a fashion model are presented with photographs of the same lithe young man wearing Slimane's sexy, mod clothes.
Paul P. doesn't know how Slimane was introduced to his art, but acknowledges they have a common aesthetic. Though they have never met, their shared vision of seductive, masculine imagery, particularly as revealed in the campaign, is undeniable.
"I'm not sure where it all began," Paul P. said in an interview earlier this week. He suspects that Slimane saw his images at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris and was inspired to combine their efforts in the spring campaign which was shot by Slimane, a keen photographer. As it turns out, the Paris-based fashion designer and the Toronto artist are remarkably alike.
Slimane, who has been creative director at the LVMH fashion house since 2000, is credited with putting men in skinny, shrunken suits, sexy low-rise rock 'n' roll jeans and gold patent high-heeled boots.
Similarly, Paul P.'s head and shoulder portraits and landscapes with "small, shadowy incomprehensible figures" are inspired by images of male p*rn models from the pre-AIDS era, he says.
For the current Dior Homme ad campaign Paul P. drew (graphite on paper) five renditions of a single live model.
But he is actually famous for his drawings and paintings inspired by images of young men who 20 to 30 years ago appeared as p*rn.
Paul P.'s reputation and fan base is larger than his life in Toronto. His provocative and always untitled artwork has been displayed at galleries all over the world, including Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo and New York. In Toronto, his work has hung at Spin Gallery, the Power Plant, Mercer Union and Paul Petro Contemporary Art.
Paul P. began using only the initial of his last name while still in school and struggling to find a way to separate himself from other artists. There is no pretension, he insists. And, he adds, he is hiding nothing, and denying nothing, by opting to use only P. on his calling card. Still, he declined to reveal his full last name.
Paul P. is apparently not a publicity hound.
We had to seek him out.
While initially the collaboration between Slimane and Paul P. seems baffling — a world famous fashion designer and a young Toronto artist specializing in p*rn images — on further inspection the partnership makes perfect sense.
Paul P.'s images have been described as both homoerotic and deeply romantic. The same can be said for Slimane's approach to fashion.
The soft-spoken artist, who graduated in 2000 with a bachelor of fine arts from York University, describes his art as "melancholic and very approachable." Slimane, by the same token, is known for his fascination with hard street style. He has embraced the druggy image of bad boy rocker Pete Doherty, Kate Moss's ex, as fashion muse.
Paul P. bases his art on p*rn*gr*ph*c materials from the '70s and '80s because for him, the time represents a less entangled pre-AIDS era, "before the massive shift in how gay p*rn looked," before magazine models buffed up to achieve a plasticized, super-healthy look to distance themselves from the disease.
"I go to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives and photocopy pages from gay p*rn and then use those images as inspiration."
His portraits unapologetically herald a time before sex was burdened with consequence. "It's a different way of looking at young men that wasn't complicated by AIDS. It could simply be erotic."
Though his art may seem to objectify men, Paul P. doesn't see it that way, declaring, "I don't think something is controversial simply because it has the capacity to affect people."
Paul P., who is planning to move to Paris, is interested in fashion design and is an enthusiastic fan of Slimane.
"His designs centre on the complete aesthetic," he says. "Hedi does not begin and end with the clothing. He looks at the figure, the silhouette of the model and even the photography."
In fact, the artist sees something of himself in Slimane, especially in his approach to masculine imagery. "His silhouette is not entirely different from the silhouette I paint or draw. It is masculine but he uses a feminine vocabulary to explain it."
What's more, says Paul P., "I like that he works exclusively with masculine subject matter."
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------
Born:
1977 Hamilton, ON
Education:
BFA York University, Toronto, 1996-2000
----
Quote from an article in the toronto star (www.thestar.com) fashion section Feb. 2, 2006.
Dior's new look
DAVID GRAHAM
FASHION WRITER
Paul P. is still a little bewildered that Hedi Slimane, the world's most directional men's fashion designer, wanted to use his gay p*rn-inspired art in the current Dior Homme spring/summer 2006 advertising campaign.
That's not to say the 28-year-old Hamilton-born artist, known internationally for his homoerotic figurative studies, isn't honoured by the joint venture.
In the campaign the artist's pencil drawings of a fashion model are presented with photographs of the same lithe young man wearing Slimane's sexy, mod clothes.
Paul P. doesn't know how Slimane was introduced to his art, but acknowledges they have a common aesthetic. Though they have never met, their shared vision of seductive, masculine imagery, particularly as revealed in the campaign, is undeniable.
"I'm not sure where it all began," Paul P. said in an interview earlier this week. He suspects that Slimane saw his images at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris and was inspired to combine their efforts in the spring campaign which was shot by Slimane, a keen photographer. As it turns out, the Paris-based fashion designer and the Toronto artist are remarkably alike.
Slimane, who has been creative director at the LVMH fashion house since 2000, is credited with putting men in skinny, shrunken suits, sexy low-rise rock 'n' roll jeans and gold patent high-heeled boots.
Similarly, Paul P.'s head and shoulder portraits and landscapes with "small, shadowy incomprehensible figures" are inspired by images of male p*rn models from the pre-AIDS era, he says.
For the current Dior Homme ad campaign Paul P. drew (graphite on paper) five renditions of a single live model.
But he is actually famous for his drawings and paintings inspired by images of young men who 20 to 30 years ago appeared as p*rn.
Paul P.'s reputation and fan base is larger than his life in Toronto. His provocative and always untitled artwork has been displayed at galleries all over the world, including Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo and New York. In Toronto, his work has hung at Spin Gallery, the Power Plant, Mercer Union and Paul Petro Contemporary Art.
Paul P. began using only the initial of his last name while still in school and struggling to find a way to separate himself from other artists. There is no pretension, he insists. And, he adds, he is hiding nothing, and denying nothing, by opting to use only P. on his calling card. Still, he declined to reveal his full last name.
Paul P. is apparently not a publicity hound.
We had to seek him out.
While initially the collaboration between Slimane and Paul P. seems baffling — a world famous fashion designer and a young Toronto artist specializing in p*rn images — on further inspection the partnership makes perfect sense.
Paul P.'s images have been described as both homoerotic and deeply romantic. The same can be said for Slimane's approach to fashion.
The soft-spoken artist, who graduated in 2000 with a bachelor of fine arts from York University, describes his art as "melancholic and very approachable." Slimane, by the same token, is known for his fascination with hard street style. He has embraced the druggy image of bad boy rocker Pete Doherty, Kate Moss's ex, as fashion muse.
Paul P. bases his art on p*rn*gr*ph*c materials from the '70s and '80s because for him, the time represents a less entangled pre-AIDS era, "before the massive shift in how gay p*rn looked," before magazine models buffed up to achieve a plasticized, super-healthy look to distance themselves from the disease.
"I go to the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives and photocopy pages from gay p*rn and then use those images as inspiration."
His portraits unapologetically herald a time before sex was burdened with consequence. "It's a different way of looking at young men that wasn't complicated by AIDS. It could simply be erotic."
Though his art may seem to objectify men, Paul P. doesn't see it that way, declaring, "I don't think something is controversial simply because it has the capacity to affect people."
Paul P., who is planning to move to Paris, is interested in fashion design and is an enthusiastic fan of Slimane.
"His designs centre on the complete aesthetic," he says. "Hedi does not begin and end with the clothing. He looks at the figure, the silhouette of the model and even the photography."
In fact, the artist sees something of himself in Slimane, especially in his approach to masculine imagery. "His silhouette is not entirely different from the silhouette I paint or draw. It is masculine but he uses a feminine vocabulary to explain it."
What's more, says Paul P., "I like that he works exclusively with masculine subject matter."
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