“Just as forms in nature are carved by inexorable change, my paintings offer unique images which are shaped by a process of relentless improvisation. Abstract tapestries are created with rhythms of layered marks probing for resolution, often figuratively evocative, that speak of private stories, social tension or mythic analogy. I have no preordained map but instead trust in a timeless knowing that moves through me to express itself in its own perfection. Designed as active typographies for the imagination, my paintings entice the viewer into journeys of communal adventures that connect through metaphor, marking this moments significance within the continuum of life. 

My process explores the tension of opposites in which friction illuminates potential. It is in this place; the interface between association and negation, flatness and depth, neutrality and saturation, where narratives unfold and visual discoveries are made. Shed of artifice and unbound by fashion, unifying fields of form and content are laid bare, providing the viewer with unique opportunities for their own self discovery. In my work, evocative dissonance is harmonized becoming symbolic of our collective experience.”

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Paul Kings forty year career has traversed a broad landscape of artistic development, exhibiting and teaching. Raised in the Philadelphia area, he earned a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art, then studied painting at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, receiving a four year certificate in 1983. The Academy provided a sophisticated foundation for artistic development from notable professors and exceptionally gifted fellow students. He then traveled extensively through Europe studying in most of the major art centers. These experiences brought a profound sense of his place in the historical continuum and contemporary context. King then went on to earn an MFA in painting from Boston University in 1985, studying with the Bay-Area Figurative painter James Weeks.

The following years were rewarding and challenging raising a family, teaching at the University of the Arts and Swarthmore College, while continuously producing and exhibiting his work primarily in the Philadelphia region. Through both process and philosophy King pushed for artistic integrity and relevance, the result of which was a natural evolution from representation to abstraction. Kings unabated search for deeper meaning and quality have brought his work to a mature and clarified point. His work is held in numerous private and public collections internationally. Five years ago he moved to Santa Fe, built a new studio and exhibited with GF Contemporary before recently joining Strata Gallery.