Jody Paulsen was born in 1987 in Cape Town, South Africa, where he continues to live and work. In 2009 Paulsen graduated from the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Arts specialising in Print Media. He was awarded the Katrine Harris Print Cabinet Award in the same year. In 2012 Jody Paulsen received the Jules Kramer Departmental Scholarship Award and went on to complete his Masters Degree with his solo exhibition What You Want, Whenever You Want It in 2013. Paulsen opened his first solo exhibition, titled Pushing Thirty, at SMAC Gallery in Cape Town, followed by a solo presentation, hosted by SMAC Gallery, at UNTITLED, Art at Miami Beach in the USA, both in 2017.
Read MoreIn 2020 Paulsen will present his most recent body of work at the MiArt in Fieramilanocity in Milan, Italy. Paulsen's work is currently included in Matereality, the group show at Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2019 Paulsen's work was included in Dress Up, Speak Up: Regalia and Resistance, the most recent group exhibition at 21c Museum Hotels in Cincinnati, USA; Radical Love, at the Ford Foundation Gallery in New York City, USA and, Filling in the Gaps at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. Earlier this year SMAC Gallery presented Paulsen's most recent body of work at the Armory Show as part of the Focus Section in New York City, USA. Paulsen presented his solo exhibition, Water Me, at SMAC Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2018.
Notable group exhibitions include: After the Thrill is Gone: Fashion, Politics and Culture in Contemporary South African Art, curated by Andrew Hennlich, a travelling exhibition starting at Richmond Centre for Visual Arts, Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, USA; Passion Fruit, at Temporary Storage Gallery in New York City, USA; all in 2018; All Things Being Equal at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in Cape Town, South Africa in 2017; Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design, curated by Amelie Klein and Okwui Enwezor travelling to the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany and Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain in 2015; the Centre de Cultura Contemporánia de Barcelona in Spain and the Kunsthal Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 2016; the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, USA in 2017; Albuquerque Museum in Albuquerque and the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin both in USA in 2018. Earlier exhibitions include: Young, Gifted and Black, curated by Hank Willis Thomas in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015; Anyway, The Wind Blows at BRUNDYN+ in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2014; The Night Show at Goodman Gallery in 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa; and the Sasol New Signatures Award exhibition in Pretoria, South Africa in 2010.
In 2012 Paulsen and the fashion designer Adriaan Kuiters collaborated to create the fashion line AKJP. Together they have presented numerous collections at events including: Pitti Uomo 89 in Florence, Italy and the Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience at The Dubai Mall in Dubai, UAE in 2015. In 2019 Paulsen collaborated with Neil Barrett to present their Men's Spring 2020 runway collection. Paulsen continues to expand and present new collections, internationally and locally.
Paulsen's work forms part of numerous significant public and private collections, including Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town, South Africa; Matthais & Gervanne Leridon Collection in Paris, France; Sovereign Art Foundation, in Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Guernsey, South Africa; The Royal Portfolio Collection, in Cape Town, South Africa and the 21 c Museums Hotel in Louisville, USA.
Text courtesy SMAC Gallery.
