Name Paul Sepuya | Role Photographer | |
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Education New York University, Tisch School of the Arts | ||
Paul Mpagi Sepuya (born 1982) is an American photographer and artist, living and working in Los Angeles and New York City. Predominantly NY-based through 2014, he is currently visiting faculty at CalArts, School of Art, Program in Photography and Media. His photographs focus heavily on the relationship between artist and subject, often exploring the nude and the relationship and intimacy of studio photography. Curator and critic Hilton Als, associated Sepuya philosophically and spiritually as one of writer James Baldwin's "living children." Critic Barry Schwabsky describes Sepuya as " a must have artist of the moment."
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Early life and education
Sepuya was born in San Bernardino, California.
Sepuya received a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Photography & Imaging from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2004 and subsequently a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from UCLA Department of Art in 2016. Work from his master's degree was presented at the UCLA MFA Exhibition #3.
Career
Sepuya's series Studio Work (2010–11) continues the development of his sustained interest in portraiture and the intimacy developed between the sitter and the photographer in the controlled environment of the studio. The range and breadth of his work examines not only the personality and character of the portrait but the private performance that exists within the photographic studio. “My studio was private, but not a closed environment. Rather, it was a stage that I inhabited and opened to those around me,” he says in reflecting on the production of the studio environment and those invited to have their portraits made. He draws inspiration for his contemporary investigations of studio photography from the works of Robert Mapplethorpe and art historian and critic Brian O'Doherty who's publication "Studio and Cube:On the relationship between where art is made and where art is displayed" both feature prominently in his early work. He has held a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem and his work is included in the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art.
In addition he has published several artists books and editions with Printed Matter, Inc and has maintained a professional relationship with its former executive director (2004-2010) AA Bronson. Since 2004, Sepuya has shot editorial features for I.D. (magazine), Kaiserin Magazine, and BUTT Magazine. His evolving collection of the self-published periodical 'SHOOT' has been sold internationally since its inception in 2005. Sepuya's 2010 publication, "The Accidental Egyptian and Occidental Arrangements," co-created with artist Timothy Hull, was financed through crowdfunding.
Sepuya is represented by Document, Chicago; Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York; Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town.
Influences
Sepuya's favorite musical artist is Eurythmics and has credited the video "Money Can't Buy It" as a large influence for him both "visually and thematically."