Michael Paul

31 July – 6 August 2013

• Following the success of his first exhibition in 2012, Cheltenham based artist Michael Paul is set to showcase 30 new paintings in a collection entitled ‘Close Encounters’.

• The paintings focus on the curious connections between the subjects – Michael is fascinated by fleeting moments, during which essences of relationships can be captured. Which paintings depict the heads-together sort of closeness chosen by friends? Which depict a closeness that has been foisted upon strangers?

• “Each painting is really a stolen moment,” Michael says. “In the same way photo journalism captures meaning in one precious instant, each painting nods to a back story, told with a snatched moment in time.”

• Michael has been drawing, sketching and painting in watercolour for much of his life – but it has only been in the last few years he has favoured oil as his medium. Last year’s exhibition, Sideways Glances, was a hit with Cheltonians and so Michael hopes to draw people back for more.

• “I am hoping these new paintings will again give visitors something to think about,” he says. “The location settings range from the Cotswolds to London, Sicily, Edinburgh, Spain and France, but the common theme is the private moment, the body language. I hope that this will strike a chord and intrigue a little.

• www.michael-j-paul.com

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