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
"Hay todo, tío" es una expresión local en Paraguay que trata sobre abundancia y servicio y demanda.
Siendo un cuerpo trans, me cruzo mucho con las miradas normadas que se y me cuestionan qué soy. Cuando sos un cuerpo que sale de la norma automáticamente estás en una vidriera para ser analizado, juzgado y consumido o rechazado. “Hay todo tío” trata sobre la mirada inquisidora heterocisnormada que toma como un juego y capricho todo lo que no sea cis y además acerca del morbo, fetichización, consumo de los cuerpos trans y lo ridículo que es pretender encasillar a las personas en rosa o celeste, cóncavo o convexo.
"Hay Todo Tío”, nace un día en que formando la fila en una ferretería, me encontré con las miradas de inquisición sobre mi género y mi identidad mientras en el mostrador, en un frasco que contenía triples amontonados como en una orgía, se leía un cartelito que decía “Hay Todo Tío” y ahí estaba la respuesta a las miradas, habemos todo.
"There’s Everything,Bro"
"Hay Todo, Tío" is a local expression in Paraguay that’s about abundance and service and consumption.
As a trans body, I come across many cis normed looks that ask both me and themselves what I am. When you are a body outside of the norm you’re automatically in display to be analysed, judged and consumed or rejected.
"There’s Everything, Bro" is about the heterocisnormalized inquisitive glance which treats everything other than cis as quirky and a game - and also about lustfulness, fetishization, trans body consumption and how ridiculous it is to try and pigeon-hole people into pink or light-blue, concave or convex.
"There’s Everything, Bro" was born one day when I was in the queue of an ironmongers. I found myself with the inquisitive looks around my gender and my identity, while at the checkout there was a jar of three-way plugs stacked together like an orgy and a sign that read "Hay Todo Tío" and there was the answer to the looks, there’s everything.
2.5 x 4m / 98.4 x 157 in
