Background
Paddock grew up about an hour outside of New York City (his work reflects the beauty of the New England landscape).
Paddock grew up about an hour outside of New York City (his work reflects the beauty of the New England landscape).
He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, in New York City, in 1998.
He"s a painter and sculptor, best known for his water colors and mixed media on paper. His work is painted in a style similar to children"s books illustrations, and deals with ideas of innocence, sex, violence, and the defiling of innocence—taking place in nature. They are metaphors of the artist"s personal history, experiences, and fantasies.
He was formerly represented by BUIA gallery, in Chelsea (2004–2009) and is currently represented by the Frosh and Portmann gallery.
His first solo show was at an artist coop called C.B. Space, in New York in 1998. Paddock didn"t receive recognition until the 2001 group show, titled Hello Schoolgirls!, at the Fish Tank Gallery in Brooklyn—where he showed alongside of other artists Neil Farber, Martin Mull, and Taylor McKimens.
After..Schoolgirls he showed in many other group shows and was eventually represented by the BUIA gallery, where he was the highlight of his first group there titled Other Worlds. Besides one more group show at BUIA () and two group shows at Capsule Gallery (New York, New York) that year—One for Grandma and Sympathetic Nerve.
Paddock had his first solo show with BUIA the following October, titled "Piggy"s New Gang." In 2005 he participated in a Tsunami Benefit Auction at Philips de Pury (New York, New York) and the annual White Box auction, along with a couple of more group shows.
In 2006, Paddock was in Animals in Art at the DCCA (Delaware Center of Contemporary Art), (Wilmington, Delaware). The following year Paul Paddock had his last solo show at BUIA titled "Season of the Witch", (02-03/2007) which sold out in the first ten days. BUIA closed the spring of 2009.
As of late 2011 to present Paddock is represented by Frosch and Portmann (New York, New York).
Paul Paddock is also a self-taught graphic designer and art director who has been designing since 1998. He"s designed over 300 books and book covers, between 1999–2004, sometimes using his artwork as cover art
He also designed record covers for bands such as The Honorary Title, the cover art used were paintings by Paddock, which expanded his audience beyond the gallery scene and into popular culture—Anything Else But the Truth, lp (06/2004) and Scream and Light Up the Sky, lp (08/2007). He"s currently working on the cover art for the Pittsburgh-based punk band "Dirty Faces.".