Paul Chisholm’s solo show Battleground, features an array of work that focus on the duplicities of meaning embedded within the codes and gestures that characterize daily life and refers to ideas of the social versus the individual.  The artist frequently makes reference to the military conflict currently taking place throughout the Middle East and inserts accents of popular culture, from the First World, in order to expose the vast contrast that exists between the lived realities of those who fight to survive versus those who live a supposedly comfortable life. 

On show will be a body of new sculptures created over the last year. #pause, suggests the ephemeral object and consists of two memorial flower wreaths, made of white artificial carnations and turquoise blue ribbon that spell out the words “hate” and “less.” This piece may be read as either a one-word description or a recommendation against action. Additional accents of other plastic flowers also appear, suggesting multiple visits made to this piece of mourning.

The two primary operative words for the artist are obscure and engage, which culminate in Air Vent. This mundane architectural detail, found within the gallery’s interior, exhibits the word “Terror!” suggesting that not everything is what it appears to be. Fear and the unknown can seep deep into the human condition causing deep anxiety both in the individual and society; but should we learn not to fear the future but to embrace it?

Back to the Future Backwards, features a 39-page printout of the 1985 movie script Back to the Future, except it appears in reverse text with the glass ball of a fortune-teller resting atop the stack of paper. The uncertainty of one’s place in time continually winds throughout this show, alluding to the larger schism that ricochets within society, exposing socio-political, economical and racial differences to a fault.

In Battleground, Chisholm reframes familiar objects as extensions of the body, which has become a site and symbol of conflicting ideologies. References to movies, conspiracy theories, the occult and factual realities create a chasm between fantasy and fiction, hope and despair. This exhibition explores a world at unease with itself and its future, while allowing space for questioning one’s own beliefs and desires which culminate in a sense of grounding beneath the umbrella of chaos. 

Paul Chisholm, (b.1983 U.K) studied at Nottingham Trent University, U.K and Metafora Tallers’dArte, Barcelona. Recent Group Shows in include Flesh Art Fair, Palma, Mallorca(2012) and Re-Mixed Messages, Fathom Gallery, Washington D.C, U.S.A(2012) First presented at La Mama Galleria, N.Y (2011), Flotsam & Jetsam, Tactic Gallery, Cork, Ireland(2012) GFEST, Dreamscape Gallery, London (2011) & The Arte Laguna Prize, Venice Arsenal, Italy(2012).

Waka is open Monday to Friday 5-8pm and by appointment. A private reception will be held on Friday September 7^TH at 7.30pm.  More information can be found at www.paulchisholm.com  and at www.wakanegra.org . Please feel free to contact the artist for more press images & interviews via his personal email: theartistchizz@googlemail.com