XO - Paulson Lee
November 12 - December 12, 2024
Opening Reception:
Wednesday, November 13, 4 – 7pm
Mt. San Jacinto College Art Gallery is proud to present XO, an exhibition by artist Paulson Lee. These semi-autobiographical works play on the notions and limitations of reality. In multilayer use of escapism—both in the depiction of the glamorized inner self and the vices of these subjects—Lee juxtaposes the mundane and unsightly with romantic imagery.
Intertwined in heavy moments of intimacy through these metaphorical lived experiences, the charm of the palette, and fantastical aesthetics, this exhibition coddles dreams and aspirations onto the plasticity of beauty. Through the media of paint, installation, and video, XO becomes a meditation on love, obsession, and infatuation laced with satire.
Paulson Lee is a Los Angeles based artist who explores the performative self, the exchange between material and immaterial, and the digital landscape of the internet through his painting, installation, and video practices.
He uses painting, video, and mixed media to create an immersive world that addresses loss, grief, and healing translated through the escapist languages of pop culture, mass media, and Southern California aesthetics. Constantly flickering between satire and sincerity, Lee's work highlights the dual nature of identity and the tension that this creates– the veneer and what lies just beneath the surface.