Paul Jacobsen was born in Denver in 1976. He grew up in a small mountain town in Colorado, raised by a family of artists. Drawing on his youth in the rural American West, Jacobsen considers the intersection of nature and technology in a multimedia body of work that references intimate personal experiences, countercultural rituals, and the aesthetics of Americana. In lush, somewhat satirical still lives and landscapes that employ traditional painting styles and photographic techniques, Jacobsen offers a bucolic, sublime escape from contemporary consumerism, industry, and innovation. Foregoing a formal art degree, Jacobsen studied in Florence at Lorenzo De Medici Instituto de Arte and was head painter in the studios of Jeff Koons and Rudolf Stingel. His works have been exhibited at MASS MoCA and the Aspen Art Museum, among other institutions. Jacobsen lives and works between Rico, Colorado and Brooklyn, New York.
PAUL JACOBSEN
Born 1976 in Denver, Colorado
Lives and works between Germantown, New York and Rico, Colorado
Solo Exhibitions
2023 Light Work, signs and symbols, New York. NY
2021 Visible Light, Elizabeth Moore Fine Art, Hudson, NY
2020 Spiritual Surveillance, David B Smith Gallery, Denver, CO
2019 Volta Basel, GALERIE VON&VON, Basel, Switzerland
2018 Material Ethereal, Signs and Symbols, New York
Studies in Movements, GALERIE VON&VON,, Paper Positions Munich, Germany
2017 In Through the Outside, The Gilded Owl, Hudson, New York
Mourning Flags, Galerie Tanja Grunert, New York
2016 Spirit Orbs, Galerie Tanja Grunert, New York
2015 Outpost, David B Smith Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2014 Lean-To, Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert Gallery, New York
2013 Orgone, David B Smith Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Village, Galerie VON&VON, Nuremburg, Germany
2011 Cabin, Sunny’s Bar Back Room, Brooklyn, New York
Mouthpiece, Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, New York
2010 Paul Jacobsen: Paintings and Drawings, Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert Gallery, New York
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Art Toronto, Galerie Von und Von, Toronto, Canada
2019 Dallas Art Fair, David B. Smith Gallery, Denver, USA
2017 There is Nothing I Can Say..., Flag Art Foundation, New York
Fractured Body, FAB Gallery of Tirana University of Arts, Albania
2016 Mana Seven, Mana Commons Presents Miami Art Week
Metagalactic, David B Smith Gallery, Denver, Colorado
2015 Black / White + Alex P. White, The Gilded Owl, Hudson, New York
Outpost (a selection), Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, New York
Beyond 1.1, curated by Mitra Khorasheh and Bethsabee Attali, Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, New York
2014 Nothing Is Ever What We Think, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Colorado
2013 Monsalvat, Bureau, New York
2012 Together Again, Radiator Gallery, New York
2011 Homebody, Still House, New York
2010 Once Acre Plot, Majestic Farm, Mountain Dale, New York
2009 Imaginary Home, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Colorado
2008 Badlands, MASS MoCA, Massachusetts 2006
A Tribute to Paul Cezanne, Yvon Lambert, New York
2005 Hedonistic Imperative, Jack the Pelican Presents, New York
2002 Crumbs, curated by David Adamo, 450 Broadway Gallery, New York
2000 Aspen Art Museum, Biennial, Aspen, Colorado
Awards
2012 The Shandaken Project Artists' Residency, Shandaken, NY
Selected Bibliography and Press
2021 Chris Hartman, Upstate Diary, Fall
2019 Ambrose Martos, “Paul Jacobsen Building and Burning” Jugular Magazine,
2016 London, Monica "Nel Nido Del Gufo", Elle Decor Italia, May
2016 Paglia, Michael “2015 Top Tens”, art ltd., January
2015 Rinaldi, Ray Mark “Pot wafts into the art world, finally“, Denver Post, May 22
2013 Gemmell, Grace Yvette, "Paul Jacobsen: Orgone," (Ex.Cat.). David B Smith Gallery, Denver
Village, Galerie VON & VON, Nuremburg, Germany
2012 “Opening Ceremony New News: Inside Paul Jacobsen‘s Brooklyn Cabin,” Wilder Quarterly, August 22
Rinaldi, Ray Mark, “Denver‘s David B Smith Gallery seizes the moment”, Denver Post, August 19
2011 Gemmell, Grace Yvette, “Paul Jacobsen Pursuing a Utopian Apocalypse”, Artlog
Adler, Alexander, “Jacobsen‘s Counter and Culture”, Huffington Post
2008 Markonish, Denise, Badlands: New Horizons in Landscape, Cambridge: MIT Press
Gordon, Margery, Artinfo, December 5