Represented Artist
Paula Wilson
Born 1975, Chicago, IL, United States


Paula Wilson enlists an extensive range of techniques to create her hybrid works. Using sculpture, collage, painting, installation, and printmaking.
Selected Works
These are a selected group of works and installation photographs. For a complete list of available works please contact us.
Paula Wilson
Mixed-media artist Paula Wilson enlists an extensive range of techniques to create her hybrid works. Using sculpture, collage, painting, installation, and printmaking methods such as silkscreen, lithography, and woodblock, Wilson explores perceptions of light, form, and the body in space. Various textures and vibrant colors are layered in collaged pieces, such as Tomorrow’s Tomorrow (2008), where a vase of flowers lit by a stained glass window is constructed on a piece of paper through oil, spray paint, and collaged, inlayed woodblock prints. Equally multifaceted as her densely layered collages is her subject matter and vast expanse of inspirations, drawn from cultural histories, identities, and an exploration of various female personas.
Paula Wilson (born 1975) is an African-American “mixed media” artist creating works examining women’s identities through a lens of cultural history. She uses sculpture, collage, painting, installation, and printmaking methods such as silkscreen, lithography, and woodblock. Paula Wilson attended Washington University (St. Louis, MO) from 1994-1998, earning her BFA and graduating summa cum laude. Wilson earned her MFA from Columbia University (New York, NY) in 2005. Wilson currently lives and works in Carrizozo, New Mexico with her partner, woodworker Mike Lagg.
EDUCATION
2005 MFA, Columbia University, New York, NY
1998 BFA, Washington University, summa cum laude, St. Louis, MO
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Entangled, 516 ARTS, Albuquerque, NM
2018
The Light Becomes You, Denny Dimin Gallery, New York, NY
Spread Wild: Pleasures of the Yucca, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY
PIECESCAPE, Visitor Welcome Center, Los Angeles, CA
FLOORED, Williamson | Knight, Portland, OR
2017
Salty & Fresh, Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL
Paula Wilson: The Backward Glance, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE
2015
Salty & Fresh, Cherry & Lucic, Portland, OR Back it Up, Museum Blue, St. Louis, MO
2014
Undress, Center for Contemporary Arts, Spector Ripps Project Space, Santa Fe, NM
2010 First Story, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
2008
The Stained Glass Ceiling, Bellwether Gallery, New York, NY
2006
Paintings and Drawings from the Hanno Valley, Galleria Suzy Shammah, Milan, Italy
2000
What’s So Personal, The Butcher Shop, Chicago, IL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
Constellations (online viewing room), David Lewis Gallery, New York, NY
Lover Earth: Art and Ecosexuality (virtual), curated by Caroline Coxe, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Drawn: Concept & Craft, curated by Tomas Vu and Wendy Earle, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC
Since n’ React to the Drop (online viewing room), curated by David L Bell, OCHI Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Contemporary Performance, curated by Kalup Linzy, Florida Museum of Photographic Art, Tampa, FL
Fragment, Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL
In This Body of Mine: Strange Fire Collective at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Milwaukee, WI
hands all blue, collaborative work with iris yirei hu, Visitor Welcome Center, Los Angeles, CA
20 and Odd: The 400-Year Anniversary of 1619, curated by Kalia Brooks Nelson, Leroy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY
2018
Paradise Summit Miami, Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL
sweet cheeks, Big Pictures, Los Angeles, CA
Venus Occults Jupiter, Love Apple Art Space, Ghent, NY
‘Spirit Ground’ A Film Screening, Coaxial Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Island Press: Recent Prints, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
Thinking Through Art, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT
2017
Sunrise, Sunset, Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL The Unhomely, Denny Gallery, New York, NY
The Young Years, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, curated by Dayton Director Ian Berry, Saratoga Springs, NY
Women Painting, Miami Dade College, Kendall Gallery, Miami, FL
New Faces, Different Places, Central Features Contemporary Art, Albuquerque, NM
2016
Surface Area: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
The Home Show, form & concept, Santa Fe, NM
Girls Who Dance in Dissonance, Wayside, Los Angeles, CA
Self-Proliferation, Girls’ Club, curated by Micaela Giovannotti, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Faces and Vases, Royal NoneSuch Gallery, Oakland, CA
Visions Into Infinite Archives, SOMArts Cultural Center, curated by Black Salt Collective, San Francisco, CA
2015
DRAW: Mapping Madness, Inside – Out Art Museum, curated by Tomas Vu, Beijing, China
2014
Paula Wilson & Jovencio de la Paz, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck, MI
Perception Isn’t Always Reality, Kranzberg Arts Center, St. Louis, MO
Lake Effect, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, curated by Mike Andrews, Saugatuck, MI
Summer Art Faculty Exhibition, Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
2013
I Am The Magic Hand, Sikkema Jenkins & Co, Organized by Josephine Halvorson, New York, NY
Sanctify, Vincent Price Museum, Los Angeles, CA
2012 The Bearden Project, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
Configured, Benrimon Contemporary, Curated By Teka Selman, New York, NY
2011 Defrosted: A Life of Walt Disney, Postmasters Gallery, New York, NY
Art by Choice, Mississippi Museum of Fine Art, Jackson, MS
The February Show, Ogilvy & Mather, New York, NY
2010
Art on Paper: The 41st Exhibition, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
41st Collectors Show, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AK
Carrizozo Artist’s Show, Gallery 408, Carrizozo, NM
2009
A Decade of Contemporary American Printmaking: 1999-2009, Tsingha University, Beijing, China
Cinema Remixed and Reloaded: Black Women Artists and the Moving Image Since 1970, Spelman College of
Art, Atlanta, GA, and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
While We Were Away, Sragow Gallery, New York, NY
Collected Propositions on the Permanent Collection, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
2007
Horizon, EFA Gallery, Curated by David Humphrey, New York, NY
Black Alphabet, conTEXTS of Contemporary African American Art, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland
2006
Turn the Beat Around, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY
The Manhattan Project, Fred Snitzer Gallery, Miami, FL
Frequency, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
2005
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Columbia University, New York, NY
Recess: Images & Objects in Formation, Rush Gallery, Curated by Derek Adams, New York, NY
Past Perfect, Kantor/ Feuer Gallery, New York, NY
2004
After Goya, Leroy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, Curated by Tomas Vu Daniel, New York, NY
Hungry Eyes, Columbia University, Ira D Wallach Gallery, New York, NY
2002
Signs, Public Art Installation, Chicago, IL
2001
Brat(Wurst), A show of Chicago Artists, Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA
2000 Young Love, Mapreed Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Art in St. Louis, Honorable Mention, Curated By Jerry Saltz, Art St. Louis Gallery, St. Louis, MO
HONORS AND AWARDS
2020
Hodder Fund Grant, Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton, NJ
2019
Award of Distinction, Washington University, Sax Fox School of Design and Visual Art, St. Louis, MO
2017
Joan Mitchell Center Artist-in-Residence, New Orleans, LA
2014
Cannonball Visiting Artist Residency, Miami, FL
‘BAZAAR,’ P3 Studio Residency, The Cosmopolitan Hotel, Curated by the Art Production Fund,
Las Vegas, NV
2009-10
Fabric Workshop and Museum Residency Grant, Philadelphia, PA
2009
Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant
Happy and Bob Doran Artist-in-Residence, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
2007
Short List, Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, Studio Museum Harlem, New York, NY
2006
Giverny Residency, Art Production Fund, Giverny, France
2004
Edward Mazella Jr. Scholarship for Excellence in the Visual Arts, Columbia University, New York
1998
Women’s Studio Workshop Intern, Rosendale, NY
Vermont Studio Center Artist Residency, Johnson, VT
Milovich Award in Painting, School of Art, Washington University
1994
Founder, The Danchimah Nigerian-American Laboratory Schools Creative Arts Center, Abia State, Nigeria
PRINT PUBLICATIONS
2020
Cranbrook Editions, Cranbrook Academy or Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI Oberlin College Editions, Oberlin, OH
2016
University of Iowa Editions, Iowa City, IA
2015
University of Oregon Editions, Eugene, OR
2015-2016
Island Press, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
2012
Master Print Series, MassArts, Boston, MA
City Editions, City College, New York, NY
2012
Earth By, A Planet Magazine Publication, http://store.planet-mag.com/
2007
Columbia University’s Leroy Nieman Print Center, New York, NY
2006
North Drive Press, Volume 2. Curated by Matt Keegan, Brooklyn, NY
2005
The Analogue Press Portfolio Series, Volume 1, Issue 3. Curated by Annie Shaw, Los Angeles, CA
1997
A Stone’s Throw, Juried Twenty-Three Member National Portfolio Exchange, New York, NY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019
Gerwin, Daniel, iris yirei hu and ivan forde, Critics’ Pick, ART FORUM
Studio Visit: Paula Wilson and Mike Lagg, Angie Rizzo, Southwest Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM, June
Kenney, Nancy, Columbia University exhibition retells the story of America by foregrounding ‘black genius’, The Art Newspaper, 3rd September
Kenney, Nancy, Columbia University exhibition retells the story of America by foregrounding ‘black genius’, The Art Newspaper, 3rd September
Kamerick, Megan, natural synergy ARTISTS MIRA BURACK AND PAULA WILSON, Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo, June 28-July 4
Roberts,Kathaleen,T ransplantedviewpoints:Twoartistsfindinspirationinstate’sterrain,vegetation, Albuquerque Journal, June 16, 2019
2018
Brown, Brice and Winkfield, Trevor, ed., Tether 4, Sienese Shredder Editions, New York, NY
Knowlton, James, “Paula Wilson: Floored at Williamson Knight,” Art Practical, March 27
Interview with Paula Wilson, Yale University Radio WYBCX, March 23
Gifford, Ashley, “A Conversation with Artist Paula Wilson,” Art & About, March 20
2017
‘Salty/Fresh: Paula Wilson’s House of Art’ Rhonda Garelick, The Brooklyn Rail, May 1
‘A Stained-Glass World Where Women Are Worshipped’ Monica Uszerowicz, Hyperallergic, May 2
Rupert, Sarah Michelle and Weinberg, Michelle ed., Women Painting: Works from the collection of Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz, Fort Lauderdale: Girl’s Club
Berry, Ian, and McNamara, Rebecca ed., Accelerate No1: Access and Inclusion, Saratoga Springs: The Frances Young Tang Museum
Berry, Ian, ed., The Young Years, Saratoga Springs: The Frances Young Tang Museum
“Race, Gender, and Human Identity” Kim Carpenter, Omaha World Herald, Go Magazine insert, March 23
2016
“Black Salt Collective Agitates the Archive with ‘Visions’ at SomArts” Sarah Hotchkiss, KQED Arts, January 14
2015
“Behind and Beyond: Paula Wilson’s Back it Up at Museum Blue” Daniel Stumeier, St. Louis Magazine, April
2014
“The bureau of reclamations” Jennifer Levin, The Santa Fe New Mexican, November 14
2013
“‘I Am The Magic Hand’” Ryan Steadman, Critics’ Pick ARTFORUM, July
“‘I Am The Magic Hand’ and Antony: ‘The Cut’” Roberta Smith, The New York Times, June 28
“I Am The Magic Hand at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.” Will Heinrich, New York Observer, June 18
2010
“Paula Wilson” Damon Locks, The Population, May 14
“The Bearden Project” Elizabeth Gwinn, Lauren Haynes, and Abbe Schriber, The Studio Museum in Harlem
“Peeling back a building’s layers, At the Fabric Workshop, murals of urban facades, and a celebration of monochrome.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 30
“Paula Wilson’s latest exhibition at the Fabric Workshop is a story of privilege.” Philadelphia Weekly, July 7
2009
“Muse: The New Face of Fashion” ESSENCE, February 2009 “Faded” Mariuccia Casadio, Vogue Italia, June
“Paula Wilson” Barry Schwabsky, ARTFORUM, January
“Paula Wilson” Jeff, Booooooom.com, February 2008 “Diff’rent Tropes” View and Spew, November
“Chelsea: Art Chockablock With Encyclopedic Range” Roberta Smith, The New York Times, Nov 14
“Paula Wilson’s Stained Glass Ceiling at Bellwether” Oly’s Musing, October 20 2007
“A Wild Horizon” Stephen Maine, The New York Sun, July 5
2006
“Critic’s Picks: Paula Wilson” Angela Madesani, ARTFORUM, June 16
“A Tale of Four Cities” Carlos Suarez De Jesus, Miami New Times, March 2
2005
“Goings on about Town” The New Yorker, December 5
“Art Against the Past” Celia McGee, Daily News, November 6
“Where Issues of Black Identity Meet the Concerns of Every Artist” Roberta Smith, The New York Times, November 18
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
The Studio Museum Harlem, New York, NY Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
The New York Public Library, New York, NY
Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelia, PA
The Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY
Art in Public Places | New Mexico Arts, Albuquerque & Santa Fe, NM
Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
ORGANIZATIONS
2010-present MoMAZoZo
2014-present Carrizozo Artist-in-Residence
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Related
For a complete list of related materials please contact us.