Life and Works
Paul Frank Wagner was born in 1970 to French parents in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. He grew up in Panama (1971-74), Paris (1974-75), Los Angeles (1975-77) and New York City (1977-1993).
Paul emerged as an acknowledged artist in the 2005, where he showed in New York City at NYU Broadway Windows in a show curated by Ok Harris Gallery. The same year his work was chosen as one of “30 Ways to make a painting”, together with established artist such as Christo, Nam June Paik and Allan McCollum at Carl Solway Gallery in Cincinnati. Moreover, he participated in a live performance at the Delano Hotel as part of Art Basel event also in 2005 launching his career as an artist in Miami. Between 2006 and 2009 Paul was represented by Virginia Miller Gallery in Miami, working mainly on commissioned works to private collectors in France and Miami. In 2009, he exhibited 100 rope paintings at Miami Scope Art Fair. Paul moved to Paris (2011-2014) to pursue his life as an artist. In 2014, his Exhale installation and video won the 2014 Art Slant prize. Later that year, he exhibited an installation called “Intersections”, in Paris. This was the story of 14 coloured ropes, representing the 14 metro lines, that travelled through Paris and intersected at the Cloitre des Billettes in the Marais, the only medieval cloister in Paris. The installation was suspended by the 14 columns of the cloister and was created as a live performance, as sound bites of the city were played.
In 2013, with the birth of his youngest son, Paul extended his passion in Art to Arts Education, running contemporary art workshops around the world. During this time, his art practice was mainly focused on ink drawings and process driven works. In 2017, he wrote Sticks & Stones Art Curriculum, during his stay in Sardinia (2016-2017), as a way to make art accessible to all children with the goal of nurturing environmental kindness in children.
Today, Paul’s work is directly influenced by the environment. He uses sticks, stones and rope to send powerful messages. His most recent work was donated to the Italian Red Cross [Croce Rossa Italiana] “Untitled, 2019” where the stones, ropes, bandages, and acrylic paint tell a story to raise awareness of the many Red Cross volunteers who get killed trying to save other people’s lives.
© Paul Frank Wagner | Artist Biography, Artworks & Gallery | http://paulfrankwagner.com
