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
"El Cubo Complaciente"
Es un cubo todo rosado, como la mujer fácil que el ex presidente Cartes dice que es el Paraguay cuando invita a inversores a que vengan, “usen y abusen”. Un cubo que sin importar los movimientos que se hagan, se mantiene rosado, fácil, complaciente, un cubo que está para el manoseo y manipulación según antojo con el goce de la impunidad. Es un cuerpo al que se le niega su autonomía. Lo que sucede cuando la violencia hacia los cuerpos femeninos está normalizada y no hay consecuencias.
"The Complacent Cube"
It’s an all-pink rubik cube, like the easy woman that, former presidente, Cartes says Paraguay is, when he invites investors to come “use and abuse”. A cube that doesn’t care what movements are done to it, it stays pink, easy, complacent, a cube that is there to be groped and manipulated at whim with the pleasure of impunity. It’s a body that is denied its autonomy. It’s what happens when violence against female bodies is normalised and without consequences.
2.5 x 4m / 98.4 x 157 in
