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The Artist's Work...

Fuentes’ paintings have been shown in galleries on the east and west coasts including Sotheby’s New York, Las Laguna Gallery in Laguna Beach and in the nationally juried Art In Politics show at Touchstone Gallery in Washington D.C. The White Room Gallery in the Hamptons and Corridor Contemporary in Philadelphia currently represent his work. Two paintings were selected for the 30th International Juried Exhibition at Viridian Gallery, New York. His portrait of Hillary Clinton, My Heart New Opened, was featured in Creative Quarterly Journal and published in The Village Voice. As a director Paul’s film work has been honored by CLIO, the Art Directors Club, The International Film and Television Awards, The Belding Awards, PROMAX, The New York Festivals and The Houston International Film Festival.

Paul’s paintings often blend modern life with pop culture references. A woman takes a selfie by her wrecked Rolls Royce; another takes a selfie (her last?) at Mount Kilimanjaro. Memorializing moments— significant and banal— onto devices is an ongoing theme. His portraits question the nature of identity and transfer to the viewer an invitation to be complicit. Subjects are often depicted in wardrobe that creates an obvious illusion. Putin, in a T-shirt popular with fitness buffs (“Sun’s Out, Guns Out”) is posed like St. Francis. In this context however, the statement seems quite literal. Replacing familiar contexts with new ones, history may become fiction prompting viewers to create their own narratives.