Paul Booth, Casino, 2021, Hand Embellished; Signed, and Numbered Limited Edition Print

Akron-born, New York-based artist Paul Booth populates his works with bodies and figures that are pushed to the edges of compressed pictorial frames. Composed with materials such as colored pencil, ink, gouache, watercolor and crayon, these images stem from an array of inspirational sources that include self-portraiture, literary and mythical references, religious iconography, and Sisyphean feats. Booth’s drawings were featured by SITUATIONS, as part of NADA Miami 2020.

Casino depicts four players seated around the table for a card game; their expressive eyes, however, appear to be fixated on external preoccupations. The work points towards the artist’s belief that the human brain’s capacity for problems is fixed and finite. To him, those with much on their mind shrink and squeeze in a multitude of concerns, while those with relatively few struggles aggrandize their troubles to occupy mental space. Within Booth’s practice, the image surface becomes a metaphor for individuals’ inner worlds, with subjects threatening—but never quite managing—to burst free from its confines. Booth will hand-embellish each print in this limited edition, making them all full color and with varying details.

ART FOR CHANGE will donate a portion of proceeds to the International Rescue Committee in support of humanitarian aid in the wake of the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey for the duration of 5 Years: An Art For Change Survey on view through March 25, 2023. As in all series, the artist will receive 50% of the net proceeds of print sales.