All painters are engaged in an unspoken dialogue with the surface while painting. Over the years, I have formalised my activity into a process that is symbolically conversational — painting layers of single-colour statements that respond to and build upon what the surface is telling me. These layers create a chain of signifiers that, when superimposed at varying densities, form connections woven with shifting nuances and a luminosity imbued with shades of meaning.
While the forms and colours I paint are a direct response to the immediate dialogue unfolding upon the painting surface, they are simultaneously shaped by my environment and the layered textures of daily life. Observations, fragmented narratives from overheard speech, and routine experiences are notes committed to memory rather than paper. Just as I have done with the dialogue of painting, I have learnt to trust the memory of an experience as a more profound and malleable source. These remembered moments are just some of the many internal cues that are triggered during my painting conversations and permeate the work.
For the last couple of years, I have been painting with watercolour. Until then, I had always painted with oils, and the process described above evolved while using oil paints. Watercolours reactive qualities essentially make it the wrong medium for this painting method; however, continuing the process with this contrary medium has introduced a satisfying unpredictability that has challenged established habits, required fresh painting strategies, and offered new perspectives. When I leave a wet painting at the end of the day, I have little idea how it will look the following morning when dry. I always return to the studio with a keen sense of anticipation.
Paul Cole lives and works in London
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 - Where would I be without you, Union Gallery, London, UK
2022 - I want to hear you say it, Union Gallery, london, UK
2017 - Dirty Linen, Sluice Project Space, London, UK
2009 - Misfits, The Gooden Gallery, London, UK
2009 - The Solo Project - Gooden Gallery, Basle, SUI
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 - An Exhibition of Small Things With Big Ideas, curated by Paul Carey Kent, White Conduit projects, London, UK
2026 - BLINK Room Share 10, Guest Curators +1, Safehouse, London, UK
2026 - BLINK Room Share 9, Mezzanine Room curated by Paul Cole, Safehouse, London, UK
2025 - Crowd Scene, Finch Gallery, London, UK
2025 - Works From The Prominent Collection of Lady Victoria Beecham, Thames-Side Gallery, London, UK
2025 - The Incidentals, Curated by Jane Millar & Sarah Sparkes, Bell House, London, UK
2025 - BLINK Room Share 7, curated by Min Angel, Safehouse, London, UK
2024 - There Is No Longer No, curated by Karl Blielik, Pictorem Gallery, London, UK
2024 - Dancing about Architecture, curated by Lee Johnson, Hypha Studios, London, UK
2024 - Touch Paper, curated by Lee Johnson, Terrace Gallery, London, UK
2024 - How to make a Head, curated by Dominic Beattie, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2024 - How to Make a Head, curated by Dominic Beattie, Strange Cargo, Folkestone, UK
2023 - Katie Pratt & Paul Cole, Two Plus Two, London, UK
2022 - Ways of Seeing, curated by William Gustafsson, Jari Lager Gallery, Cologne, GER
2021 - Recreational Grounds Offsite, Thames-Side Gallery, London, UK
2021 - Pretty Ugly, curated by Andrew Ekins, Thames-Side Gallery, London, UK
2020 - Ridiculous! Curated by Paul Carey Kent, Elephant West, London, UK
2020 - This Years Model ’20, Studio 1.1, London, UK
2020 - Picture Palace, Transition Two, London, UK
2019 - Recreational Grounds VI, Wendover House Car Park, London, UK
2019 - This Years Model ’19, Studio 1.1, London, UK
2018 - Papercuts, curated by Kristian Day, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2018 - Exchange Berlin - Sluice, Kühlhaus Berlin, GER
2018 - A Caroming, Centre For Drawing, London, UK
2016 - The Names, Transition Gallery, London, UK
2015 - Skim, ASC Gallery, London, UK
2015 - The Directors, DOLPH, London, UK
2014 - Sluice__Auction, The Hospital Club. London, UK
2013 - Creekside Open, Selected by Paul Noble. APT Gallery, London, UK
2010 - Sluice Auction, Hamni Gallery. London, UK
2010 - Icons, Charity Auction for St Joseph’s Hospice. St Botolph-without, London, UK
2010 - ROMA / The Road to Contemporary Art, Rome, ITLY
2007 - Plastic Pets & Toy Stories, Vinespace, London, UK
2007 - Punk, Rota Flora, Hamburg, GER
2007 - Punk, Ada Street Gallery, London, UK
2006 - 01 for London, Deutsche Bank, London, UK
2006 - Front Art, No More Grey, London, UK
2006 - Painting to Music, The Music Rooms, London,
2006 - UK Summer Show, Fosterart, London, UK
2005 - Working for Peanuts, Gallery44, London, UK
PRESS / PUBLICATIONS
Works From The Prominent Collection Of Lady Beecham, Exhibition Catalogue, Sept 2025
TimeOut review for Ridiculous! Rosemary Waugh, Jan 2020
Paul’s Art World, Paul Carey-Kent online review for Dirty Linen, Sept 2017
DOLPH catalogue 2015, The Directors, p52-61, 2015
CCQ online review of DOLPH-The Directors, Oct 2015
a-n online review of DOLPH -The Directors, Oct 2015
CCQ Preview, DOLPH Projects: Natasha Kahn & Paul Cole, Oct 2015
a-n Magazine, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Pippa Koszerek, Oct 2015
The Solo Project catalogue, Basle, Switzerland, p82-83 June 2009
Punk; A directory of Modern Subversive Culture. Edited by James Bradshaw 2007
a-n Magazine, Cover Image, June 2005
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
April 2026 BLINK Room share 9, Safe House, London, UK
2014 - 2017 DOLPH Projects, ASC Studios Streatham Hill, London, UK
DOLPH curated 6 solo shows a year over 4 years. The artists were presented with a brief asking them to contextualise their practice. Annual catalogues are available on request.
The brief:
The artist’s objective is to frame an exhibition that contextualises the interests and concerns driving their practice. Their task is to tell the story of what makes them tick. To share their inspirations and influences, and present them in an intriguing, cohesive exhibition. How the artist does this is up to them. They set their own terms. They are their own curators. The aim is to create and exhibition that is both revealing and challenging. To conceive a show that offers a rare insight into their creative process and affords the opportunity for greater understanding of their practice.
https://temporaryartreview.com/dolph-projects/
FUNDING GRANTS
2017 Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grant: DOLPH Projects