Paul Wallach

Paul Wallach was born in New York in 1960. He studied fine arts at the University of Wisconsin, then applied arts at Boston University, before settling in Florence for a year to live and work. Back in the United States, he received a visual arts grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, then took part in an artist residency with Mark di Suvero in the late 1990s. After this residency, Paul spent two years in Düsseldorf before settling in Paris in 1994, where he continued to develop his sculptures and wall works. In 1996, he took part in Projekt Z, an artist residency program in Salzburg, Austria. He also participated in the World Trade Center memorial competition in 2003 and, more recently, in 2007, was selected for the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation residency program. His work has been presented in numerous exhibitions throughout his career, particularly in France and the United States. The rise of capitalism and global mass media shaped 1980s America, alongside the growth of the music and fashion industries. As a young adult at that time, Wallach lived through this turbulent cultural period. However, he rejects consumerist culture in his work: his practice is modest, precise, and subtle. Wallach’s sculptures and wall objects are composed primarily of simple yet varied materials, such as plaster, wood, glass, canvas, paint, and steel, carefully combined to create balance. Wood often plays a central role in his work, serving as a support structure for suspended elements. Wallach creates a unity between his work and the surrounding space through absence: carefully orchestrated voids within his structures allow space to circulate freely inside and around the works, thereby blurring the boundaries between interior and exterior. Wallach has held several solo exhibitions in public institutions, including the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne, the Domaine de Kerguéhennec in Bignan, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, and the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. In 2018, Paul was invited to create an installation marking the closing of Kunstprojekt Krauthügel, an artistic cycle initiated by the Salzburg Foundation. This four-part installation will remain on view in Salzburg until 2024. Paul Wallach still lives and works in Paris.