Paul3
Bio
Paul3 was born in 1979 in Asunción, Paraguay, although he is officially registered as born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His birth is marked by a double lie: the place and the assigned gender.
A trans, brown, and neurodivergent artist, Paul3 uses he/him pronouns. His practice is primarily rooted in conceptual art and the use of readymade objects. He also works with photography, installation, and painting, exploring tactility, everyday life, and symbolism as forms of engagement. His work revolves around themes of gender and mental health but also expands into more intimate territories.
His work offers a critique of the heteronormative mandates that structure society, while also functioning as a sensitive metaphor for interpersonal relationships. Through minimal gestures and memory-laden objects, Paul3 constructs images where desire, affection, and violence intertwine in a material and political poetics.
In 2015, he presented his first series of works and participated in group exhibitions at various galleries in Asunción. In 2020, he received the Matisse Prize for his work Cubo complaciente, and in 2021, he was awarded the BGN Prize at the Oxígeno art fair for Hay todo tío.
In 2022, he completed a two-month residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, concluding the process with an open studio.
Pausa magazine included him in their list of 5 artists to watch, recognizing his impact and relevance in the contemporary art scene.
Statement
Paul3 is a trans, brown, neurodivergent artist whose work centers on conceptual art and readymade objects, along with photography, installation, and painting. His practice critically examines heteronormative social structures and power dynamics, often using symbolism—like in El Cubo Complaciente, a work reflecting the normalization of violence and denial of female bodily autonomy. Through minimal gestures and memory-filled objects, Paul3 creates poetic, political images exploring desire, affection, and interpersonal relationships.
Additional information
"Sonríe y se feliz"
Así, en ese orden, primero hay que sonreír, para luego ser feliz. Hay que aparentar ser feliz y exitoso para lograr alcanzar el éxito. Vivimos bajo el mandato de ser feliz y es imposible ser feliz todo el tiempo.En la pintura, aparentan ser caras felices cuandoen realidad yo pinté caras tristes y luego di vuelta el cuadro. La pintura chorrea conectando una cara con otra formando una malla de caras tristes que aparentan ser felices. Nos vemos los unos a los otros y reproducimos una red de sonrisas condenando a las frustraciones por un sistema capitalista que nos quiere siempre proactivos y persiguiendo el éxito e invisibilizando y estigmatizando a situaciones de salud mental.
Nos encontramos así rodeados de caritas felices, algunas sonríen felices y otras "para ser felices".
"Smile and be happy"
Like so, in that order, smile first in order to be happy. You have got to seem happy and successful in order to be successful. We live under the mandate of being happy and yet it is impossible to be happy all the time.
In the painting, they look like happy faces when in reality I painted sad faces and then turned the picture upside down. The paint drips connecting one face to another forming a network of sad faces that seem to be happy.
We look at each other and reproduce a network of smiles condemned by the frustrations of a capitalist system which wants us to always be proactive and chasing success, all the while stigmatizing and invisiblizing situations of mental health.
And so we find ourselves surrounded by happy faces, some smiling happily and other smiling “to be happy”.
2.5 x 4m / 98.4 x 157 in
