PAUL MICHAEL WRIGHT
New York, NY
2025-2026 Grant Transparency: A Solo Exhibition
Scholarship 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020
Paul Michael Wright is a painter, illustrator, and storyteller who uses figurative portraiture to tell personal narratives about coming of age, community, and nostalgia. He works primarily in mixed media, using the human body as a vehicle to explore themes of identity, trauma, and transformation. This grant will support the ongoing development of Transparency, a mixed media series examining the duality inherent in portraiture. Wright’s technique for this series involves painting on transparent materials and building each artwork in layers, so that elements are both hidden and revealed. “By doing this, I explore the duality between surface identity and the deeper, hidden self. Each layer is a metaphor for the complexity of our personas—how we present ourselves to the world, and what lies beneath,” he explains.
Wright plans to exhibit Transparency at the John Scott Center in New Orleans, whose mission is to amplify diverse voices and foster community conversations. “I make artwork to tell my truth and engage in a larger conversation about identity and visibility. As a Black gay artist, my work is deeply personal, yet it is also meant to resonate with others who may face similar struggles,” reflects Wright, who describes Transparency as both a reflection and a mirror. He aims to deconstruct traditional norms surrounding Blackness, masculinity, femininity, and humanity itself, using the portrait as a lens through which to examine the nuanced and often repressed dimensions of selfhood. He states, “Transparency is a thematic exploration of the tension between public persona and inner truth, focusing on the vulnerability of human identity.”
Wright graduated from New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in 2012, received his MFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in 2021 and his BFA from Parsons The New School for Design in 2019. In New Orleans, he has exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Center, George Rodrigue Gallery, the African American Museum and 5 Press Gallery. His work was shown at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC in 2009. He has been an artist-in-residence at Adobe, Cow House Studios in Wexford, Ireland and the Joan Mitchell Foundation in New Orleans. He works as a freelance muralist, collaborating and completing four major projects in the last year with companies such as Vidmob, Spotify Resorts World Casino, Lionsgate and Nola Station. He has given back to the community that raised him by serving as a mentor and studio assistant at YAYA. He is currently a teaching artist in New York City.
Paul Michael Wright first joined the YAYA Guild in 2007.
All works are copyright of the artist.