Paul Cadden: Solo Show at Plus One Gallery

Scottish hyperrealist Paul Cadden intensifies the normal in his extraordinarily lifelike pencil drawings. He maintains that hyperrealism is the illusion of a new reality where emotional, social and political themes are infused into everyday scenes or objects.

In his latest solo show, Cadden explores landscapes and portraiture through a selection of 13 new pencil drawings. The Scottish artist has always been influenced by the scenes of day to day life whilst on his travels and within his works there is often a diverse cultural mix. This collection features designs inspired by his visit to the Guilin region of southern China, meeting and observing people there.

The Paul Cadden Solo Show also introduces a converse, new line of work. At Plus One Gallery, Cadden will be exhibiting his new piece, Tangasdale Beach. Representative of this alternative direction, this piece takes as its subject deserted landscapes, absent of any human presence.. The drawing depicts powerful waves crashing onto the shore of the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides.

Cadden’s style gives him the opportunity to tweak and change the way that we perceive what is around us. This starts from the very beginning of his artistic process with the use of Photoshop in order to manipulate his images to highlight certain parts, adjust the focus or change the depth of field.

According to Cadden, the most important stage of image creation comes around three quarters of the way in, when he starts to refer less and less to material, instead making up his own aesthetic judgements regarding tonality.

As an artist of the Hyperrealism movement, it is important when creating images that his work can be appreciated as representations of cities and people, as well as having deeper and more complex impressions. This is what transcends a skilled artistic style into an image that captures the social and political culture, laying feelings of place and time.

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Paul Cadden: Solo Show is at Plus One Gallery from 9^th December 2015 until 5^th January 5 2016, for further information visit the exhibition listing here.