Paul Heyer

Instation view: "Paradise" at Green Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, 2024

BROKEN WINDOWS

Made for Green Gallery in Milwaukee, these paintings depict broken windows derived from the theater of the Haunted House and abandoned buildings I explored around Chicago when young. I am interested in how the mischievous act of breaking offers a liberatory model for the viewer, presenting an imaginative in-between space. When things are damaged they are often forgotten so I present these spaces as sites of openness with permission to forgo the rules. The window is liminal, an opportunity to move between worlds. And of course, in painting the window is a metaphor and a model for art and looking. I playfully subvert these expectations. Simultaneously abstract and figurative these are both paintings of nothing (empty space, transparency) and metaphysical potential.

“Broken Window (Gray and Black and Green)” 2024

Oil on canvas

44” x 60”

“Broken Window (Red and Purple)” 2024

Oil on canvas

44” x 60”

"Broken Window (Blue and Black)” 2024

Oil on canvas

44” x 60”

“Broken Window (Purple and Pale Orange)” 2024

Oil on canvas

44” x 60”

CHARISMATIC HAUNTINGS

This body of work spans subjects like wonder-filled skeletons, oversized sunflowers, and brooms. The skeletons are captured in moments of seeing for the first time subjects we take for granted. These paintings engage the overlap between notions of satori and looking. Skeletons, usually a symbol of death and decay, are presented as the opposite, embodying childlike innocence. Sunflowers simultaneously regard the viewer and provide psychedelic voids of abstraction.

“Fire,” 2021

Oil and acrylic on polyester

18 ¾” x 25 ¼”

Installation View of RIVERS at Chapter-NY, 2023

“Genesis 1-4, Course 1-2,” and “Orange Sunflower” 2023

“Genesis 1,” 2023

Oil and acrylic on polyester

54” x 44”

“Sunflowers,” 2021

Oil and acrylic on polyester

69” x 49 ½”

DETAIL: “Sunflowers,” 2021

"Model(s) of the Universe(s) as Broom(s)", 2018

Charred brooms, shells, acrylic paint, string

10’ x 10’ x 7”

Installation view at MCA Chicago

BROOMS
This sculpture is made of found brooms that have been charred and “bedazzled” with tiny bits of found shell, resulting in a contrast between the matte burned wood and the reflective bits of shell. The humble used brooms are transformed into playful models of the universe, a response to Quantum notions of the shape of time/space and its subjectivity. The individual brooms are very different, suggesting fractal subjectivities each with their own world. Each broom is hung on nearly invisible string to hang 7” above the floor. The piece recalls witch rituals, daily labor, physics, Disney, and craft.

“Turtle in Purple Grass,” 2021

Oil and acrylic on polyester

54” x 67”

DETAIL: “Turtle in Purple Grass,” 2021

Installation view: "Naked" at Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2021

Poster from BORN at Mickey Gallery, Chicago IL, 2019

“BORN”, 2019

Abalone shells, limestone, UV LEDs, soundtrack made in collaboration with Ariel Zetina, and other elements

40’ x 27’ x 12”

BORN

An immersive installation staged at Mickey Gallery in Chicago, BORN used lighting, abalone shells, a custom Trance soundtrack, and tiny LED black light hidden within the shells, which were in turn filled with black light sensitive liquid and artificial bubbles. This space was designed to evoke a place outside time, perhaps in the Bardo between life death or maybe another planet. The layout of the shells echoes deep sea comb jellies, as well as magnetic fields, and yonic shapes. Composed with help from DJ Ariel Zetina, the soundtrack featured the voice of my nephew recited a poem that encouraged the viewers to dispel fear and reacquaint themselves with their childlike spirit.