Paul Morin
Artist
Artist Statement/About
Award winning portrait and figurative artist, Paul Morin's works are in public and private collections around the world. Born in 1962 in Worcester Massachusetts, Paul grew up with a love of Art and Music and an overwhelming desire to make both! In addition to painting and drawing from an early age, Paul has also sought out opportunities to work with classical choruses around the country including Juilliard and the Russian Chamber Chorus in New York City and the choruses of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
A semi-finalist in the prestigious BP Portrait Award in London, he received First Prize in Painting and a Director's Award of Merit from the Triton Museum in Santa Clara, CA in 2021. He was also chosen to participate in the "de Young Open" show at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. A largely self-taught artist, Paul's unique combination of traditional technique with modern sensibility confront the viewer with a sense of scale that is very individual. With empathy and humor, Paul's work celebrates the human spirit and captures the unique look and expression of each sitter.
Paul lives and works in San Francisco, California.
Artist Statement
In the 21st century, in a world of "selfies" where everyone can expertly record a likeness on a device in one's pocket, where does the portrait artist fit?
Answering this question has been my life's purpose in both my conversations with clients and my work itself and I can tell you portraits are important and still matter. A well-crafted portrait made with skill and artistry can encapsulate the soul of a person forever. It can tell a story, confront, baffle, inspire and touch the viewer with an immediacy and life that a photograph is rarely able to do. At its best, a portrait is a conversation. Filled with contradictions, unknowable truths and infinite subtleties it exists as a dialogue between sitter and artist and, through the artist, between sitter and viewer. It is an unfolding process in which an artist can honor, exalt and fix forever a moment and the life of a human being.
Whether working in a traditional style that harkens to paintings of by-gone centuries or in the more contemporary style of oil and silver metal leaf; I try to bring the same care, empathy and sensitivity which, I hope, honor's my subject's individuality with grace and style. My body of work in oil and silver metal leaf attempts to find a language that is both ancient and modern - a portraiture for the 21st century. Religious icon? Re-imagined tintype? An evocation of the "Silver Screen?" These are images both vintage and contemporary with backgrounds that glow like a light that could be sacred and otherworldly or secular and garish. Walk around the room and let my paintings pick up the ambient light -- it's a magical experience!
Biographical Information
Born 1962, Worcester, MA
Works and Lives in San Francisco, CA
Education
Providence College
Massachusetts College of Art
Representation
2022- MRK Contemporary, Dubai, UAE
2021- ArtHaus Consulting, San Francisco, CA
2021- James Bacchi Contemporary, Palm Springs, CA
2021- MiXX Projects + Atelier, Telluride, CO
2016-2021 ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012-2013 ArtZone 460 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009-2010 Gallery 560, San Francisco, CA
Selected Exhibitions
2021 "Salon 2021," Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
"25 - ArtHaus Silver Anniversary Retrospective," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Giddy-Up!," MiXX Atelier, Telluride, CO
2020 "The de Young Open," The de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
"The Artist As Curator," Office of Sen. Scott Wiener, San Francisco, CA
"Off The Rack," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Re-Imagined," ArtHaus Gallery San Francisco, CA
"Resolution," Palette Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Found Portraits 2," Click Click Bang Salon, and Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
2019 "Twenty / Twenty," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Windows for Harvey," Stag and Manor, San Francisco, CA
"Summertime," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"The Final Show," Wonderland SF, San Francisco, CA
"The Dirty Dozen," Lone Star Saloon, San Francisco, CA
"4 Squared Alumni," Arc Studios and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018 "SHINE," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"48 Pillars," Arc Studios and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Marking Time," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Fast Forward," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017 "20th Anniversary Show," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"BRUSHSTROKES-2017," San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
"Summer Of Love," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Delicious," STUDIO Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Project eARTh USA," Misho Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Salon 2017," Triton Museum Of Art, Santa Clara, CA
2016 "stARTup Art Fair LA," Highland Gardens Hotel, Los Angeles, CA
"Paul Morin Works," Dolores Park Cafe, San Francisco, CA
"Go Figure," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Portraits and Digressions," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Spectrum Gestalt 3," bG Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"SIZE-small," ArtHaus Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 "20th Century Blues," Revelation, Mill Valley, CA
"Cartes de Visite (2)," Modern Relics Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"The Left Coast Annual Juried Show," Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
2014 Modern Past Gallery, San Francisco CA
"Found Portraits," Click Click Bang!! Salon and Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
2013 "4-Squared," Arc Studios and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Imaginarium," Arc Studios and Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Cartes de Visite," Modern Relics Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 "Emerging Artists 2012," Driftwood Salon, San Francisco, CA
"Red," O'Hanlon Art Center, Mill Valley, CA
"Envisioned Enchanted," Wonderland SF, San Francisco, CA
"Annual Juried Show," The Falkirk Cultural Center, San Rafael, CA
"Primal Masquerade," Aspect1000 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Modern Portraits," ArtZone461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Anniversary Show," ArtZone461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Notorious," Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Vintage Portraits," Classic Cars West, Oakland, CA
2011 “Found Portraits,” Blush Wine Bar, San Francisco, CA
“Illuminations,” Nova, San Francisco, CA
2009 Gallery 560, San Francisco, CA
2008 Haven Home Furnishings, Carmel, CA
2007 ”Optique,” Reeves Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Portraits,” Artworks SF, San Francisco, CA
Publications
2018 luxe. interiors + design, "History in the Remaking," by Alison McCarthy, November/December Issue, page. 245
Recognition
Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. (Collection), Boston, MA Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, UCSF, (commission and collection), San Francisco, CA
Dance Biopharm, Inc., (collection), Brisbane, CA
Justdiggit (collection), Amsterdam, The Netherlands First Prize, Painting, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Director's Award of Merit, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Semi-finalist, BP Portrait Award 2018, London, United Kingdom
Annual California Realism Award, ArtZone 461, San Francisco, CA
Best 2D Work, Coastal Arts League, Half Moon Bay, CA
