Paul D. Fuentes is a painter, director and creative director (BFA The Tyler School of Art and Architecture).
Fuentes’ paintings blend pop culture motifs and classical influences with conceptual and technical precision. His advertising and directing experience lend a contemporary cinematic quality and occasional irreverence to the vivid works.
A sense of story is often found in Paul’s paintings. The Kiss Series depicts fully clothed couples in passionate embrace. Wardrobe and hairstyles are distinctly retro, like from B movie sci-fi films. The passion seems at once feverish and vacuum sealed in 50’s-era convention. The Selfie Series depicts subjects in precarious situations snapping cell phone portraits: a stylish woman takes a photo in the desert by her wrecked Rolls Royce while another holds a latte and snaps her picture in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro while a lion waits nearby. Safety is relinquished for a moment of ego gratification that will most likely be posted and forgotten.
Paul’s celebrity portraits create obvious and sometimes ironic illusions. Putin, posed like St. Francis, wears a T-shirt popular with fitness buffs: “Sun’s Out, Guns Out.” In this setting, however, the statement is quite literal. Replacing familiar contexts with new ones, Fuentes prompts viewers to create their own narratives. His Couples Series explores identity and fame through improbable pairings of famous duos. In The King & Queen, Queen Elizabeth & Burger King are the new royalty. Kim Kardashian & Kim Jong Un are Kim & Kim while Bill Clinton & Wilma Flintsone pair up on a date in Bill & Wilma. Viewers are led to connect the dots and draw their own interpretations of the works.
Fuentes’ paintings have been shown in galleries on the east and west coasts including Sotheby’s New York, The White Room Gallery in East Hampton, Corridor Contemporary in Philadelphia and the nationally juried Art In Politics show at Touchstone Gallery in Washington D.C. Two works 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. His illustrations have appeared in ads and publications including The New York Times. His TV 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 others.
Statement
“Scenes interest me. Whether looking out a bus window and seeing two people argue on a street corner or watching a vintage Mitchum film. I directed a lot of scenes and love the process: set, lighting, wardrobe, gestures and performance. In an increasingly impersonal world where you can be followed or cancelled, small moments of humanity are treasures. I’d like my work to be like a compelling film still, something that intrigues the viewer and hints at a bigger story that they can create. Combining contemporary themes in a classical style I hope to engage viewers into seeing something beautiful or cool and then have them realize this may be about something else entirely. Classical painters, filmmakers, advertising and cinematography are a few of my influences.”
Gallery representation
The White Room Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Parlor Gallery, Asbury Park, NJ
Exhibitions
2025 The White Room Gallery, What’s Not to Love, East Hampton, NY, group exhibition
2024 The White Room Gallery, Cryptic, East Hampton, NY, group exhibition
2024 The White Room Gallery On the Edge, East Hampton, NY, group exhibition
2023 The White Room Gallery, Naughty / Nice, East Hampton, NY, group exhibition
2023 Corridor Contemporary, Philadelphia Featured, Philadelphia, PA, group exhibition
2023 The White Room Gallery, Yin Yang, Bridgehampton, NY, group exhibition
2023 OC Arts Center, Subject to Change, solo show, Ocean City, NJ
2022 Era Contemporary Gallery, Legends of the Moon. In collaboration with NASA’s Lunar Codex destined for the moon, Polaris Mission 2023
2022 Corridor Contemporary Gallery, Philadelphia Featured, group exhibition
2021 Corridor Contemporary Gallery, Person to Person: An International Survey of Portraiture, Philadelphia, PA
2020 Alfa Art Gallery, Configured Personas group exhibition, New Brunswick, NJ
2020 Las Laguna Gallery, Portraits, Laguna Beach, CA, group show
2020 Solo show, Portraits & Pop, Ocean City Arts Center, Ocean City, NJ
2019 Viridian Artists Gallery 30th International Juried Exhibition, New York, NY
2019 Philadelphia Sketch Club 11th Annual Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Maxum Gallery, Hearts and Minds, Atlantic City, NJ, group exhibition
2019 Newport Beach Annual Art Exhibition, Newport Beach, CA
2018 Sotheby’s Ad Art Show, group exhibition, New York, NY, group exhibition
2016 Touchstone Gallery, Art As Politics National Juried Exhibition, Washington DC
2016 Featured in Creative Quarterly Journal