Press release
The lost boys, The Art Fund Prize Gallery, The Lightbox Museum, Woking, Surrey, England.
November 7th -19th 2023
Open daily 10am-5pm Entry is free.
The Artist will be present on the 7th of November 1pm-5pm and again on the 19th of November 1-5pm
For more information contact the Artist mrpauldavidchisholm@:gmail.com or peter@thelightbox.org.uk
Surrey based artist, Paul Chisholm presents a body of paintings and sculptures from his Lost Boys series which is inspired by the boys lost to the HIV epidemic throughout the decades and related suicide. It also points to stigma faced by those boys affected by HIV within modern day society.
The title of this exhibition comes from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up but refers in the context of this exhibition to the boys who simply couldn’t grow up because of the Aids/ HIV crisis. Although this exhibition refers to Boys throughout its context it is no way limited by gender as this affects us all.
‘A stitch in time saves nine’, meaning if you sort out a problem immediately it may save a lot of extra work later; if you’re lucky! The AIDS crisis and those affected are not so lucky and it took seven long years for any ‘Art’ (Anti-Retroviral Medication) to come in effect and it was another 9 years- 1996 until this medication slowly became effective and in ‘the everyday cushions’ these concerns are played out. These cushions are rough in nature but soft at hand and are a labour of love and frustration, each stitch is a direct sign of life; a life the artist thought he would not live after his diagnosis of HIV in 2007. With each word a contradictory or opposing word appears on the cushions scattered across the gallery floor alongside these are black pencils that lie with red tips alluding to both blood, the black death and an artist’s career that may have been cut short like so many others in the 80’s and 90’s. Each pencil is varnished with anti-viral glitter this coating both suggesting protection against viruses and a reminder of ever present danger. This steri-coat varnish is often used in hospital settings, without the glitter of course! However each glitter shard stands as another star burning bright and a reminder of those who we have loved and lost.
On the wall hang two poems created using Chat GPT, one which the artist asks to create a poem about the lost boys due to the Aids Crisis’ and another ‘the Lost Gay boys due to the Aids crisis’. With each the artist raises questions upon the fact that a Virus knows no boundaries gay or just a boy. It’s interesting to note the change in language used by the AI when instructing it to use a label such as ‘Gay’. Either way the work ends with making the Artist cry.
A soft sculpture entitled ‘My magical mental illness power’ is covered with 101 red ribbons and Nazar badges - the Turkish amulet which deflects the evil eye. The red Ribbon was created as a way of remembrance by a group of 12 Artists in 1991, from the New York Arts charity Visual Aids. (A charity which the artist often exhibits with and is awarded arts grants by) Coupling both of these symbols of hope, remembrance and protection within the context of mental health the artist questions the ongoing stigma associated with HIV and AIDS, whilst simultaneously creating a sculpture which empowers those affected both those lost to history and those struggling today.
In a self-portrait from 2017 the artist has placed a badge on the heart and it states ‘ Over 1 million people die of AIDS each year that’s the population of Amsterdam gone’ This statement came from a poster when the International Aids Conference was held in Amsterdam in 2018 (The Artist splits his time between the City and Surrey, England). Just imagine… ‘That’s an entire city in silence every year, year on year’…….. Aids is not over…..
On the opposing wall a large print of Paul Chisholm’s iconic ‘I’m Tired’ poem stands which was read aloud at the Keith Haring Art and Activism conference at Tate Liverpool in 2019. This work juxtaposes the AI generated poem giving a more human take on our collective consciousness. Ultimately the work ends by saying ‘I’m Tired but never too tired to keep creating Art which someday somewhere may touch another’s soul ……..’ And I think this exhibition is a testament to that………
Paul Chisholm (1983) was born in Canterbury, England and brought up in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He studied a BA in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University (2004) before doing his MA in Fine Art at Chelsea -College of Art in London (2020). In 2023 he was nominated for the Queer Britain Art Prize. This exhibition is funded by an Art Council England Developing your creative practice grant.
