Good, True and Beautiful Drawings: Paul Cadden

Good, True and Beautiful Drawings: Paul Cadden

Contemporary social hyperrealism from Great Britain

by André F. Lichtschlag for EF Magazine (translated)

The Scotsman Paul Cadden paints in a hyperrealistic way, but "differently" from others in his choice of materials. Cadden does not paint with oil or acrylic, he uses pencil, charcoal or watercolors. The artist, born in Glasgow in 1964, almost always focuses on particularly expressive human faces and exaggerates these emotional portraits. His works are most reminiscent of the Austrian and Irishman Gottfried Helnwein, although Cadden's work is less disturbing and more "social" or socially critical. And somehow more Scottish.

When we asked him what particularly inspires him in his work, Cadden emphasizes his "deep interest in the complicated details of everyday life and the human experience." He is "driven by the desire to capture reality with detailed intensity and to highlight the beauty in the ordinary and the extraordinary in the everyday." He is particularly fascinated by "the subtleties of light, texture and expression" - and these are precisely the nuances that he tries to transfer to his drawings, starting from a photograph, "guided by the idea of ​​intensifying the normal".

When asked which artists had particularly influenced him, Cadden did not name a single contemporary hyperrealist, but rather the two Mexicans Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, the Soviet Russian Alexander Deineka and the Italian Renato Guttuso, all of whom represented a politically committed socialist realism in the broader sense. In Cadden's works, too, British representatives of the working class are the focus of artistic interest.

Caddens prefers the materials graphite and charcoal on the one hand and watercolors on the other - and these are actually opposites in their characteristics. Sharp, high-contrast black and white separations here, fluid transparency and color layering and mixing there. Cadden loves both challenges and thus creates a unique series of works in which contrasting painting techniques miraculously harmonize with one another and reveal a single artistic "signature".

We also asked the extraordinary painter and draftsman from the island why he focuses so much on the expressiveness of human faces and their facial expressions. These, he explains, attract him so strongly because they "can convey a wide range of emotions and stories. Every wrinkle, shadow and line tells a story from a person's life, their experiences and their journey." Paul Cadden finds "inspiration in ordinary moments and everyday people who might otherwise go unnoticed. Whether it is a fleeting expression of joy, sadness or contemplation, the aim is always to capture the essence of these moments and the humanity in them."

Last but not least, Cadden's work is inspired by a strong fascination with media and the way it manipulates the audience. Cadden tries to counteract the alienation and sometimes widespread cynicism that often prevails today through "the illusion of new, more believable and more lifelike realities". He defines art as the pouring of personal subjectivity into an object in the hope that other people will enjoy it.

Works by Paul Cadden are available through the fabulous Plus One Gallery in London, which specializes in Hyperrealism.

To book an appointment or for more information please contact us via email on maggie@plusonegallery.com and maria@plusonegallery.com
or by phone on 020 7730 7656.