Paradigm Gallery Presents 'pa•per', a Group Exhibition

Paradigm Gallery is pleased to present ‘pa•per’, a group exhibition of paper works curated by Paradigm co-founder Jason Chen, opening on April 26, 2019 and remaining on view through May 18, 2019. There will be a public opening reception on April 26th from 5:30 - 10pm.

Though paper is often thought of as craft material, Chen’s exhibition, ‘pa•per,’ tries to recontextualize the medium by showcasing 15 artists who use nontraditional techniques to elevate it. Included in the exhibition is Baltimore-based Rosa Leff, who is a member of The Guild of American Papercutters. Two of Leff’s pieces in ‘pa•per,’ Dinner's On Me and Sorry Not Sorry, incorporate traditional imagery that you might find on fine china plates. All of her work is cut by hand from a single sheet of paper.

While the exhibition does not range in medium, it ranges in technique. From surgical X-Acto blade cuts to minimal collage to Sally Hewitt’s series of paper reliefs, paper is transformed by technique and treatment. India-based Nayan and Vaishali’s ongoing project, 730 Days of Miniature, poses a creative challenge on the seemingly limited nature of the material. Each day, they spend four to six hours meticulously creating miniature paper bird artworks. Each one is colored and cut by hand, and layered to create a “2.5 dimensional” piece. These works and the show itself treats paper not as a background or foundation for artworks, but as a transformable material.

Chen specifically chose artists who have not been featured ever before at Paradigm. Artists participating in pa•per include: Kanako Abe, Daria Aksenova, Joey Bates, Albert Chamillard, Colette Fu, Lizzie Gill, Sally Hewett, Danielle Krysa, Rosa Leff, Huntz Liu, Ryan Sarah Murphy, Marianne R. Petit, Lucha Rodríguez, and Nayan and Vaishali. The gallery is known for working with established and emerging paper artists, but ‘pa•per’s’ lineup is fresh and unexpected.

‘pa•per’ is curated around art that is pushed beyond its practical applications into the world of fine art. The capacity of paper as a medium, rather than a surface to paint or draw on, highlights its potential of exceeding expectations.