PAUL CUPIDO
Paul Cupido’s affinity for the natural world was born out of a childhood spent on the Dutch island of Terschelling, where the ebb and flow of tides and the cycles of the moon reflect the fleetingness of life. Cupido’s work is furthermore inspired by Japanese photography as well as his travels there. Japanese philosophical principles, and especially that of Mu, permeate his creative practice. Mu could be loosely translated as ‘does not have’ or a ‘void’, albeit one that holds potential. Cupido’s economy of form and lyrical compositions, encompassing landscape, portraiture and still life, invite to look beyond the visible—while he is rigorous in his attention to the quality of printing and his choice of paper stock. He photographs widely while traveling and reflects on the results later, which after a period of contemplation means a renewed journey of discovery, in which the intuitive editing of seemingly unrelated images leads to serendipitous combinations.
Paul Cupido (1972) graduated with honors from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam in 2017. He has since published various artist books, among which Searching for Mu (2017), Continuum (2019), and 4 a.m. (2021)—each one in collaboration with graphic designer Akiko Wakabayashi. Cupido’s work has been exhibited widely, among others at Paris Photo, Unseen, and Nordic Light Festival. Cupido’s work is represented by Bildhalle Gallery (Zurich & Amsterdam), Danziger Gallery (NYC & LA), and The Photographer’s Gallery (London). In 2022 Cupido has been invited to become the inaugural artist-in-resident for INSTANTS, a Château Palmer and Leica residency program.
Artist statement:
“I aim to engage with the world with wide-open senses. My work is about the magic moments of life as well as its inconveniences. I want to take pictures, while forgetting about the process of photography, until I’m saturated with an existential sense of life. Every step I take begins with
the notion of ‘mono no aware’: the transience of everything, the gentle melancholy of things, being sensitive to ephemera.”
Paul Cupido
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Exhibitions (selection)
2022:
• InCadaqués (ES)
• Ocean — BILDHALLE Amsterdam (NL)
• Photo Basel — BILDHALLE (CH)
• AIPAD 2022, NYC (US)
• Photo London — BILDHALLE (UK)
• Flora Photographica — Flowers Gallery, London (UK)
• Bergamot Station — Danziger Gallery, Santa Monica, LA (US)
• Extra Ordinary — The Photographers Gallery, London (UK)
• Photobooks. Art Page by Page — GRASSI Museum, Leipzig (DE)
2021:
• The Photo Book as Object — IBASHO, Antwerp (BE)
• Anna Singer Art — Singer Museum, Laren (NL)
• Paris Photo 2021 — Bildhalle (FR)
• Paul Cupido — 4 a.m. Solo Exhibition @ The Photographers
Gallery London (UK)
• Photo Basel — Bildhalle (CH)
• Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
• UNSEEN, Amsterdam — Bildhalle (NL)
• Mizu — Summer group exhibition @ IBASHO (BE)
• Rencontres d’Arles — IBASHO (FR)
• Art Rotterdam — Bildhalle (NL)
2020:
• Mukayu — Solo Exhibition, Bildhalle Amsterdam (NL)
• Nordic Light Festival, Kristiansund (NO)
• Photo London — Bildhalle(UK)
• Mukayu — Solo Exhibition @ IBASHO, Antwerp (BE)
• No Man is an Island, Museum IJsselstein (NL)
• FFO 2020, Oslo (NO)
• Anna Singer Art — Singer Museum, Laren (NL)
• Paper Positions Berlin — Bildhalle (DE)
• AIPAD 2020, NYC (US)
2019:
• Paris Photo (FR)
• UNSEEN, Amsterdam (NL)
• Moments of Wonder — Solo Exhibition @ Kahmann, Amsterdam (NL)
• Ephémère — Solo Exhibition, Bildhalle, Zurich (CH)
• Seaside at Bildhalle, Zurich (CH)
• Photo Basel — Bildhalle (CH)
• Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
2018:
• This Art, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam (NL)
• Encontros da Imagem / Discovery Awards 2018, Braga (PT)
• Festival Internacional de Fotografia Paraty em Foco (BR)
• Athens Photo Festival 2018, Benaki Museum (GR)
• Fotografiska, Stockholm (SE)
• Haute Photographie, Rotterdam (NL)
2017:
• New Dutch Talent 2018 (GUP), Amsterdam (NL)
• Window Of Wonder at Tipi Bookshop, Brussels (BE)
• Photography and the Artist Book: First Edition, Atlanta (US)
• Robert Capa Center, Budapest (HU)
• Back to Paradise — DeelenArt, Rotterdam (NL)
• Belfast Photo Festival (Artist Residence Winner) (UK)
• REVEAL — Graduation Exhibition Fotoacademie
2016:
• Tokyo Institute of Photography, Tokyo (JP)
• Het Oog, Amsterdam (NL)
Accolades (selection):
• 2022 The Best Dutch Book Designs of 2021 (NL)
• 2022 Finalist EI Photobook Award 2022 (PT)
• 2022 LensCulture, Favorite Photobooks of 2021 — selected by Laura Moya, Photolucida (US)
• 2021 Fisheye Photo Review (FR)
• 2020 LensCulture, Favorite Photobooks of 2019 — selected by Anaïs Lopez (NL)
• 2020 BJP — Notable Photobooks of 2019 (UK)
• 2019 Jury Top Selection, GESTE Paris (FR)
• 2018 Finalist Discovery Awards, Encontros da Imagem (PT)
• 2017 Window Of Wonder, Tipi Bookshop (BE)
• 2017 New Dutch Talent (NL)
• 2017 HARIBAN Juror’s Choice Award — selected by RongRong & Inri (JP)
• 2017 Artist Residence Winner Belfast Photo Festival (UK)
Collections:
• Foam First Editions (NL)
• International Center of Photography, New York City (US)
• Danziger Collection (US)
• Van Lanschot Art collection (NL)
Residencies:
• 2022 Château Palmer (FR)
• 2019 Can Serrat (ES)
• 2018 LabVerde, Amazonia (BR)
• 2017 Docking Station — Belfast Photo Festival (UK)
Artist Books
• 2021 4 a.m. — self-published
• 2019 Continuum — self-published & Edition Bildhalle
• 2017 Searching for Mu — self-published
Books
• 2020 Mukayu — the(M) éditions & Ibasho Gallery
• 2019 Amazônia — Alauda Publications & Bildhalle
• 2019 Ephémère — Edition Bildhalle
