Arthur Paul

As Playboy Magazine’s founding art director, Art Paul used his three decades there to revolutionize illustration. It’s said that no magazine art director has commissioned more illustrators, persuaded more artists to illustrate (Warhol, Dali, and Rosenquist among them) or won more honors in giving illustration the daring and integrity of fine art. Among artists and designers Art has mentored or worked with he’s an unusually beloved and revered father figure.

But Art is unique also in having been not just an art director and graphic designer (in particular of Playboy’s rabbit logo), but also an illustrator, fine artist, curator, writer, and composer.  And there’s been a surge of interest just now in both his past and present, with recent talks, books, and a documentary on him, exhibits of his art, and performances of his writing and music.  At 91, he’s now putting his drawings and writings into book form, with projects focused on race, aging, animals, and graphic whimsy.

Artist

 
 

“Art's work embodies the qualities he has cultivated in others. His drawings are as direct as his handwriting. His style reflects his forthrightness, wit, and intelligence without flaunting them. Art's art is the work of a man whose modesty is rooted in a secure ego. He reveals himself by boiling things down to their essence."  –Brad Holland, artist

"What helps to define a human being for me is how much they wonder what life is all about. Possibilities hover everywhere. An artist brings these close, catching an elusive thought to share it with others. And painting frightful images is like putting on the light in the midst of a nightmare, to understand what lies in the shadows." –Art Paul

"Today the emphasis in art is on the process of it. It's driven by ideas that may use anything as a tool: industry, communications, popular culture, words. Creativity and ideas go hand in hand, like a dream in search of words." –Art Paul

For inquiries on Art’s work, contact One After 909 at galleryoneafter909@gmail.com