Anatomy: Paul Verdell

Library Street Collective is excited to announce Anatomy: Paul Verdell, an online exhibition of new work that presents an intimate look into the artist’s studio, practice, and inspiration. Launching on November 11, the exhibit will feature Verdell’s distinct works of pastel on paper as well as a series of oil paintings on canvas that echo the lightness and ephemerality of his drawings. Alongside these new works, Anatomy will include a look at Verdell’s historic and contemporary influences, as well as conversations between the artist and painter Jammie Holmes; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit Senior Curator Jova Lynne; and fashion entrepreneur and art collector James Whitner.

Verdell approaches his drawings and paintings of portraits, figures, and still lifes through oil paint and pastel, adding quick and expressive mark-making to his two-dimensional works. Post-Impressionist and Fauvist influences are apparent through the abandonment of precision in favor of a more fluid form of figurative work, where unnaturally vibrant colors become flesh and limbs, and figures merge with their surroundings. The artist’s tendency towards working quickly to capture emotion results in works with varying exposures of paper or canvas between the strokes and fields of color. This lightness is a prominent characteristic of his unique style, inspiring a feeling of ephemerality and fleeting exchange, and allowing the viewer space to explore. A closeness to his subjects and a desire to work from live models characterize an autobiographical approach, where each piece becomes a chapter in a lifelong anthology of relationships, conversation, and intimate connection.

For Verdell, it is the presence of the subject during their sitting that guides the conceptual framework and psychology of each piece. When the artist paints from live interactions, he engages in conversation with his sitter, and as a result, the tone of the discussion and spirit of the individual permeates the work. Though the core of Verdell’s practice consists of works of pastel on paper, the artist approaches mark-making and color in his paintings in a similar manner, where loose, open gestures are layered and dripping to indicate the same movement and vitality. During the pandemic, Verdell found himself with less access to live sitters and instead turned to old images of his family, some dating back to the youth of his great grandfather. For an artist who aspires to explore and discover the essence of his live models, this use of old photographs of distant family members could seem antithetical, however, a closer look draws parallels in analysis, intuition, and imagination. Verdell describes painting as a “constant search”, and this foray into his family history has brought about works that feel as deeply connected to lineage as they do to the unknown.