![Paul M Nicholson cake with cigarettes in it [blue].JPG](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6329da956c20f44ca0fc3600/1685201536573-HFQX6B0VHEN85G0943U4/Paul+M+Nicholson+cake+with+cigarettes+in+it+%5Bblue%5D.JPG)
Paul Nicholson, "Cake with cigarettes in it" (blue)
oil and acrylic on cardboard and wood
6” x 6” x 7”
2021-present
Nicholson started making cakes during the pandemic while caring for his mother who was convalescing at home. He returned to Western New York and was able to reconnect with her during a very difficult time. It was, however, bittersweet, as the conditions of this return were those of a slow-moving family disaster matched only by the tumult the country was under for all the social and political conditions for which we are all aware.
Cakes occupy a cultural space of abundance and are common at celebratory occasions, and Nicholson uses his recollection of the ever-present sheet cake at backyard birthday parties as a point of departure. As these boozy affairs wind down, it seemed inevitable that somehow a cigareVe would end up in the remains of a half-eaten sheet cake – spoiling the leftovers. His cakes condense an affecting memory and match it with our collective failure – to attend to social, political and public health challenges happening all around the world. It’s not that we can’t have nice things, it’s that we don’t deserve nice things. His intention with these works is capture something of the zeitgeist of our times, our collective failure and dysfunction.
STATEMENT
Nicholson uses an interdisciplinary approach that employs traditional drawing, painting and photographic processes in the service of creating objects, installation and public intervention projects. The themes in his work vary from the explicitly political to the highly personal. His process, however, has remained consistently focused on exploring how the crafted object functions against the backdrop of shiSing cultural, political and economic landscapes. There's an aspect of theatricality to his practice, as he believes that ultimately, art is theatre.
BIO
Paul is a multidisciplinary artist and curator living and working in Ithaca NY. Last summer Paul M. Nicholson joined Ithaca College as the new Director of the Handwerker Gallery. He comes to Central New York from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was the Director of the Martin Art Gallery for the past seven years. As Director of the Martin, he curated dozens of contemporary art exhibitions, oversaw its permanent collection, and expanded its physical footprint. Before moving to Muhlenberg, he founded several non-profit art galleries and spaces in New York City and Buffalo and worked in student advising and program administration at the Parsons School of Design. Paul is originally from Suva Fiji, but grew up in Western New York where he earned his MFA from the University at Buffalo, his MS Buffalo State College, and his BFA from SUNY Fredonia.
oil and acrylic on cardboard and wood
6” x 6” x 7”
2021-present
Nicholson started making cakes during the pandemic while caring for his mother who was convalescing at home. He returned to Western New York and was able to reconnect with her during a very difficult time. It was, however, bittersweet, as the conditions of this return were those of a slow-moving family disaster matched only by the tumult the country was under for all the social and political conditions for which we are all aware.
Cakes occupy a cultural space of abundance and are common at celebratory occasions, and Nicholson uses his recollection of the ever-present sheet cake at backyard birthday parties as a point of departure. As these boozy affairs wind down, it seemed inevitable that somehow a cigareVe would end up in the remains of a half-eaten sheet cake – spoiling the leftovers. His cakes condense an affecting memory and match it with our collective failure – to attend to social, political and public health challenges happening all around the world. It’s not that we can’t have nice things, it’s that we don’t deserve nice things. His intention with these works is capture something of the zeitgeist of our times, our collective failure and dysfunction.
STATEMENT
Nicholson uses an interdisciplinary approach that employs traditional drawing, painting and photographic processes in the service of creating objects, installation and public intervention projects. The themes in his work vary from the explicitly political to the highly personal. His process, however, has remained consistently focused on exploring how the crafted object functions against the backdrop of shiSing cultural, political and economic landscapes. There's an aspect of theatricality to his practice, as he believes that ultimately, art is theatre.
BIO
Paul is a multidisciplinary artist and curator living and working in Ithaca NY. Last summer Paul M. Nicholson joined Ithaca College as the new Director of the Handwerker Gallery. He comes to Central New York from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was the Director of the Martin Art Gallery for the past seven years. As Director of the Martin, he curated dozens of contemporary art exhibitions, oversaw its permanent collection, and expanded its physical footprint. Before moving to Muhlenberg, he founded several non-profit art galleries and spaces in New York City and Buffalo and worked in student advising and program administration at the Parsons School of Design. Paul is originally from Suva Fiji, but grew up in Western New York where he earned his MFA from the University at Buffalo, his MS Buffalo State College, and his BFA from SUNY Fredonia.
oil and acrylic on cardboard and wood
6” x 6” x 7”
2021-present
Nicholson started making cakes during the pandemic while caring for his mother who was convalescing at home. He returned to Western New York and was able to reconnect with her during a very difficult time. It was, however, bittersweet, as the conditions of this return were those of a slow-moving family disaster matched only by the tumult the country was under for all the social and political conditions for which we are all aware.
Cakes occupy a cultural space of abundance and are common at celebratory occasions, and Nicholson uses his recollection of the ever-present sheet cake at backyard birthday parties as a point of departure. As these boozy affairs wind down, it seemed inevitable that somehow a cigareVe would end up in the remains of a half-eaten sheet cake – spoiling the leftovers. His cakes condense an affecting memory and match it with our collective failure – to attend to social, political and public health challenges happening all around the world. It’s not that we can’t have nice things, it’s that we don’t deserve nice things. His intention with these works is capture something of the zeitgeist of our times, our collective failure and dysfunction.
STATEMENT
Nicholson uses an interdisciplinary approach that employs traditional drawing, painting and photographic processes in the service of creating objects, installation and public intervention projects. The themes in his work vary from the explicitly political to the highly personal. His process, however, has remained consistently focused on exploring how the crafted object functions against the backdrop of shiSing cultural, political and economic landscapes. There's an aspect of theatricality to his practice, as he believes that ultimately, art is theatre.
BIO
Paul is a multidisciplinary artist and curator living and working in Ithaca NY. Last summer Paul M. Nicholson joined Ithaca College as the new Director of the Handwerker Gallery. He comes to Central New York from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was the Director of the Martin Art Gallery for the past seven years. As Director of the Martin, he curated dozens of contemporary art exhibitions, oversaw its permanent collection, and expanded its physical footprint. Before moving to Muhlenberg, he founded several non-profit art galleries and spaces in New York City and Buffalo and worked in student advising and program administration at the Parsons School of Design. Paul is originally from Suva Fiji, but grew up in Western New York where he earned his MFA from the University at Buffalo, his MS Buffalo State College, and his BFA from SUNY Fredonia.