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CURATORS CHOICE
PAUL SCOTT MALONE
Paul Scott Malone is an American artist whose work spans several decades, transitioning from a career in literature to one focused entirely on visual art. Malone's artwork is known for its deeply emotional and evocative style, often blending abstract expressionism with narrative depth. His paintings explore a wide range of human emotions, capturing the dichotomies of life—such as beauty and pain, joy and sorrow—through vibrant colors, bold textures, and dynamic compositions.
Malone's journey into the visual arts began in earnest in the 1990s after a successful career in journalism and fiction writing. Since then, his paintings have been exhibited in numerous galleries and featured in various international art publications. His works have also been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci from the Effetto Arte Foundation in Milan, and he has been showcased in prominent exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and ArtExpo New York.
Living and working in Rockport, Texas, Malone's art is deeply influenced by his experiences in the American South and Southwest. His paintings often reflect the resilience of the human spirit, inviting viewers into a contemplative space where they can engage with the complex layers of emotion and meaning. Malone's art is celebrated for its ability to connect with viewers on a personal level, transforming ordinary experiences into profound visual narratives. His work continues to be a significant contribution to contemporary art, resonating with audiences around the world for its honesty, beauty, and emotional depth.His work is characterized by the exploration of profound emotional themes, capturing the complexities of the human experience.
Malone's paintings are known for their rich textures, dynamic use of color, and the ability to convey deep emotional resonance. His pieces often invite viewers to reflect on the dualities of life allowing them to engage with the artwork on a personal level. His recent work, created after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, reflects a renewed energy and a deeper exploration of themes related to resilience and recovery. Heavily impacted by the hurricane, Malone rebuilt his life and studio, channeling his experiences into his art. This period marked a significant evolution in his artistic journey, with new works that continue to push the boundaries of emotional expression through visual art. Malone’s paintings are not only celebrated for their aesthetic qualities but also for their ability to evoke a wide range of emotions, making them resonate deeply with audiences. His work has been compared to that of great artists like Vincent van Gogh and Caravaggio in terms of emotional depth, though Malone’s style remains uniquely his own, combining abstract elements with a strong narrative quality.
What are the primary concepts and focus of your art and how do these ideas relate to your
medium, and creative process itself?
I consider myself more a folk artist of the American South and Southwest than a Global Art Virtuoso. But then the universal themes of human life, as Faulkner shows us so spectacularly, can be found just as readily in a small Southern town as they can be in London or gay Paris. I have no agenda, neither political nor social nor cultural nor anything else. I draw only on what I have experienced, seen, read, heard, etc., in my life -- relying on memory and doodles and good intentions rather than sketches -- always searching for what might be worthy of portraying in a work of art, and that's most anything. My first focus is always on the making of the picture, no matter its subject. Is it interesting, even jarring, to see? Beautiful perhaps? Melancholic? Fun? Does it leave you curious? My titles are often ironic in nature and usually come to me as I'm painting.
What advice would you give to your past or future self?
I should have started my art practice when I was 12.
When the audience sees such intuitive works as yours they are often immediately curious
about the environment the works are created in. What is the most indispensable item in your
studio and why can’t you live without it?
The roof over my head.
What is your dream project?
To concoct something of a family saga on life and death and happiness and despair over a span of time, Tolstoyan in scope, incorporating elements of abstraction and spontaneous cartoon on as many canvases as it takes. I think I've already started it with my new series (working title "Rust unto Gold"); I am meandering through a couple of other subjects right now but shall soon get on with the task. Also, I want to make larger and larger canvases as I move along with larger narratives and more difficult themes.
Describe your studio/work space in three adjectives.
Stupendous damn small!
What kind of atmosphere do you prefer when you work? Do you listen to music or podcasts, or do you prefer silence? Why?
When I walk in I turn on the music and it's the last thing to turn off in the evening. Classic Rock, rhythm and blues, classical. It helps block out the hum-drum domestic world, and I especially like to hear the human voices speaking in an ordered fashion. It reminds me of my own responsibilities as an artist. Bluesy narratives are all about the grit of life where flowers bloom reluctantly and millionaires seldom tread. As in any narrative there must be a conflict to overcome; the good painter hints at what it is the best he can.
What do you wish to communicate to the audience and viewer?
Only two things: The joy, and strangely beautiful mystery, to be found in this crazy human existence on this crazy spectacular lonely and deadly planet.
What trait do you most admire in a work of art? What trait do you most despise?
A sense that the artist knows what she's doing, and it's somehow new to me; I want to study it. Sentimentality and abstract wallpaper rarely work. Filling in dead space with flowers is also getting kind of old.
Which of your works stands out as a highlight, a favorite, or a significant point in your creative growth and development? and why?
I usually paint in series format, like writing books, and there are two works in my first oil-painted series, 1998, called "Grid." They're titled "A Prayer for the Misbegotten," and "The Pregnant Maiden and the Purple Urn." Those two paintings showed me that I could paint anything I can imagine if I rely on my instincts. The first strokes of pen or brush, or even the blast of an air gun, are usually the most truthful and trustworthy.
Which artists are you inspired and influenced by?
Leonardo, first, for the simplicity of his work, how it all seems effortless and fully contained within the frame. Then: Rothko, Pollock, Botero, Picasso, Freud, Bacon, Johns, the Mexican revolutionaries, the Mayans, the Egyptians, the Japanese, and I often admire the art of children. I'm not exactly under the influence of anyone right now. I know a few "professional" artists but I know them only online. I'm rather a hermit. I incorporate the processes of a number of Modernist and Post-modernists artists in my own work to blend it into something new, as of course Realists incorporate the processes of Raphael and his kin. Each step in the incorporating of color fields or drips and splatters or line drawings (or anything else you may see in my work) is done only after hours of discussing the pros and cons of it with myself.
Can you tell us any memorable reactions you have you had to your work?
"My seven year old could have done that." I considered it high praise.