BIOGRAPHY

Paul Anagnostopoulos (b. 1991, Merrick, NY) aggregates various histories, beliefs, and symbols as a way to explore mythological desire and melancholy. His images are open-ended to reflect the varying versions of similar oral traditions. The paintings act as portals to an idyllic paradise, serving as postcards from a journey that may or may not have been experienced. These unclear memories invoke the rosy longing of nostalgia.

In Sappho’s words, there is glucopicron, sweet-bitter, or ambivalence to the works. Two opposing concepts coexist: abundance and loss, pleasure and pain, love and agony. The vibrant colors allude to kitsch and camp, allowing for moments of humor and melodrama to enter the work. With a shifted focus towards intimacy and tenderness, his figures remain suspended in a fantasy of fulfillment. Anagnostopoulos’s paintings act as portals to an idyllic paradise, serving as postcards from a journey that may or may not have been experienced. Ultimately, the works celebrate queer storytelling.

He earned his MFA in Studio Art from CUNY Hunter College in 2023 and his BFA in Studio Art and Art History from New York University in 2013.

He has been included in group and solo exhibitions at Dinner Gallery, NY; the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, NY; and GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, PA. His work is in the collections of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, NY; Museum of Modern Art Archives and Library, NY; Rhode Island School of Design, RI; and Yale University, CT. Anagnostopoulos lives and works in Queens, NY.