Artist Paul Richmond brings ’Cheesecake’ to Chicago
Cleveland-based artist Paul Richmond is no stranger to the paintbrush. Since the age of three, he, like many other gay men, has been attracted to the beauty of fairy tale princesses and country divas, and has expanded upon that beauty in his own creations.
In Cheesecake, his latest exhibition opening this weekend in Chicago, Richmond features over a dozen "gaylebrities," including James St. James, Del Shores and many others, depicted in the style of 1940s and ’50s pin-up art. The work is refreshingly humorous and points to a promising career ahead for the budding 30-year-old.
EDGE recently spoke with Richmond on what inspires his art and what attracted him to the pin-up genre.
A fun, light-hearted show
EDGE: You’re about to open Cheesecake, your first exhibition in Chicago, at Center on Halsted. How are you feeling heading into the show?
Paul Richmond: I’m really excited and proud of the series. It was a lot of fun to work on it and I can’t wait to see how everyone reacts. It’s a fun, light-hearted show and the other show opening Friday - focused on queer comic book artists - sounds really cool, so it should be a good compliment to the illustrative style of my work. I hope people will feel free to laugh.
EDGE: Taking a peak at some of the images you’ll be featuring, the influence of 1940s and ’50s pin-up art is very evident. What attracted you to that aesthetic in depicting the illustrations of various gay celebrities?
PR: I’ve always been really drawn to the classic pin-up art from that period. I think it’s really funny and says a lot about the mentality of that time period. The idea came when I was with friends looking at art of women going grocery shopping, with the celery sticks hanging out from their bags, or caught on the street corner with their panties down around their ankles and it was funny. There is no real equivalent of that art for men, if you compare it to the beefcake art of that same period. If men are naked, they are naked because they want to be. But I thought it’d be fun to apply that same aesthetic to men.
Why men?
EDGE: And how did you choose the men to be featured in the exhibit? How did you get in touch with them? Some of the most prominent names include Jack Mackenroth, Mike Ruiz, Ari Gold and James St. James.
PR: I wanted to use figures from contemporary pop culture, specifically gay men, so I went from there and had 14 lined up before too long. As more of them agreed to do it, they offered to help spread the word to their friends and Jessie Archer was one of the best, putting me in touch with quite a few of the other models. I tried to represent people from different areas of the arts, all depicted having some sort of wardrobe malfunction while on the job. It was a real collaboration with all of them and that added a richness. Most sent me photographs as reference and we talked about the ideas and brainstormed together.
EDGE: Your website bio mentions a conservative upbringing, but your work is very far from that! Tell me a bit about how you’ve come from that point to here, it must have been an interesting sort of evolution.
PR: I grew up in a small conservative community outside of Columbus and went to Catholic School there, but it was pretty obvious right away that I was different from the other people in my class. I was drawn to fairy tale princesses from the age of 3, and my family recognized I was different and encouraged my artistic side.
Art became a really good way to cope with everything. I went to art school in Columbus and stayed in the closet, forming a mural painting business with Melissa Forman. We became really good friends and I felt comfortable enough to come out to her and work through that process. I began creating artwork about what I was going through and I began to understand how you can communicate so much through art. Since then, my art has been getting gayer and gayer by the minute as I’ve explored my own journey. It’s a great way to connect with other people and I can have a lot of fun with it now.
Noah’s Gay Wedding
EDGE: It seems that divas, like Dolly Parton, have played a huge role in that journey as well! What attracted you to these divas?
PR: I’ve always been fascinated with divas, from Snow White and onto [Parton], who are both very cartoon-like. I was watching The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas on TV when I was 5 or 6 and thought it was the most amazing thing. That was my first introduction to a real diva and I’ve loved her ever since. I think there’s a big connection between over-the-top female characters and gay culture.
EDGE: As you’ve mentioned, your work is very personal. Is it hard for you to put yourself out like that?
PR: A lot of my work is personal narrative, based on some personal experience or something I’m trying to work through or maybe a political issue that really affects me. I did a painting after the Prop 8 debacle, Noah’s Gay Wedding Cruise, because I was feeling really upset and wanted to create something that relayed a message of hope. I showed a lot of gay and lesbian and animal couples in the ark, while people like Ann Coulter, Fred Phelps and some of the community’s more vocal opponents were drowning in the water. My background is in illustration so having a real storytelling quality is very important to me. I want people to experience my work almost like they’re watching a movie and that drives everything I do.
EDGE: What is next for you after Cheesecake?
PR: I wake up every day with a new crazy idea and it’s always cool to see what’s happening next. One designer underwear company is helping me develop my own line of men’s underwear and I’m making some artwork specifically for that. I’m also illustrating a lot of novel covers for gay fiction books and have more ideas for paintings and exhibits down the road. One concept I’m looking at for my next exhibit is putting sort of a gay glam twist on the story of Snow White. It was such an inspiration to me as a kid, I’m thinking of taking the symbolism and imagery and morphing it into something more twisted and relatable as an adult.
EDGE: And what kind of goals do you have for the future?
PR: I have a lot of goals, but the biggest one is to follow my art wherever it leads. I hope to always be able to create. I’ve identified with artists since I was a little kid and as long as I’m able to be creative and make art, that’s all I really can hope for.
Paul Richmond: Cheesecakeopens Friday, June 11 at the Center on Halsted’s second floor art gallery space with a reception from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at 3656 N. Halsted. Richmond’s work will also be featured in a program Saturday, June 12, at the Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 N. Lincoln, at 1 p.m. Visit www.paulrichmondstudio.com or www.centeronhalsted.org for more information.
