Bio
Paul Behnke was born in Memphis, TN, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Memphis College of Art. Behnke’s paintings have been exhibited widely in the United States and internationally.
He has had solo exhibitions in New York, Heidelberg, Philadelphia, Saint Augustine, and Memphis, as well as group shows in San Francisco, Honolulu, London, Dublin, Paphos, Glasgow, The Netherlands, Cernay-lès-Reims and New York.
His work has been reviewed in Hyperallergic Weekend, The New Criterion and The New Republic. Behnke’s writings have appeared online at AbCrit: A Forum for Debate on Abstract Art, at The Painters’ Table and in print in Gamut a Southern regional art magazine, and No. Magazine. He was the co-editor of Shad Runn a self-published art zine in Memphis, TN.
He has edited Structure and Imagery: A Contemporary Art Blog since 2011 and was the co-director of Stout Projects exhibition space in Bushwick, Brooklyn from 2015 to 2017. After spending the last three years in Taos, NM; Behnke currently lives and works in Memphis, TN.
C.V.
Born in 1965 in Memphis, TN, USA
Residing and working in Frenchtown, NJ, USA
Education
1999 BFA, Memphis College of Art
Solo Exhibitions
2023 My Love is Winter Gray Paintings by Paul Behnke, International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK
2017 Strange Entities, Gary Giordano Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2016 The Thing I Came For, Kunstraum Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
2013 An Awful Rainbow, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
2012 Like Giants, The Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Darker Than a Blackbird’s Retina, Calder Art Supplies Art Studio, Byram Arcade, Huddersfield, U.K.
Within You Without You: New Work By Paul Behnke and Gary Giordano, Prallsville Mills, Stockton, NJ
2022 TAAC Inaugural Exhibition, Stables Gallery at Taos Center for the Arts, Taos, NM
Explosive Abstraction, The Wright Contemporary, Taos, NM
As Seen on the Radio, curated by Graham Dane, International Gallery of Contemporary Art, Anchorage, AK
2021 On the Road: with Bill Page and Paul Behnke, the gallery LTD, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Borderwalls II, The Border, Brooklyn, NY
Way Out, La Grange, Cernay-Lès-Reims, FR
Grey | Gray (Matter), Divisible Projects, Dayton, OH
नमस्कार/Namaskār, A photographic series curated by Nehal Devi, Mumbai, IN (online)
2019 Tides & Currents, SFA Projects, New York, NY
Ear to the Ground, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
25th Anniversary Exhibition, The Painting Center, New York, NY
2018 BIG Holiday Show, LABspace, Hillsdale, NY
Surface and Substance, The Painting Center, New York, NY
2017 Nothing But Good, PARK 138 X, Tilburg, The Netherlands
True Believers, Michael David Studio/David and Schweitzer Contemporary, Brooklyn, NY
Paperworks, Gary Giordano Projects, Brooklyn, NY
Pro Forma: Context and Meaning in Abstraction, Work Release, Norfolk, VA
New New York: Abstract Painting in the 21st Century, The Curator Gallery, New York, NY
ReStatement, Kunstverein Brackenheim, Brackenheim, Germany
Steal the Show, Flat 3/2, Glasgow, Scotland
2016 ReStatement, Schmidt und Schütte, Cologne, Germany
An Occasional Dream, Life on Mars, Brooklyn, NY
Drishti: A Concentrated Gaze, 1285 Avenue of the Americas Gallery, New York, NY
If Color Could Kill, Salena Art Gallery at Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
We Are the Dead, Kirk Hopper Fine Art, Dallas, TX
2015 Occo Socko! Stout Projects, Brooklyn, NY
New New York, The University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI,
Color as Form/Form as Color, c2c Project Space, San Francisco, CA
Hello Again, Ground Floor Gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY
Thrice Legendary or Forever Then, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY
Made in Paint, Sam and Adele Golden Gallery, New Berlin, NY
2014 Form and Facture: New Painting and Sculpture from New York, Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery, Stony Brook, NY
Eight Painters, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY
2013 Temporal Shifts, Flecker Gallery at Suffolk County Community College, Selden, NY
Meta Vista, 16 Wilson, Brooklyn, NY
What I Like About You, Parallel Art Space, Queens, NY
2012 A Web of Artists, Thomas Deans Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
Heroes, A Small Black Door, Queens, NY
The Art is Falling Apart, Terrace Gallery, London, U.K.
Chromophilia, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Brucennial, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, 2012, New York, NY
2011 Done Paint Done, The Drawers Gallery, London, U.K.
Faction, University of Dayton, Dayton, OH
Grey Matter, The Painting Center, New York, NY
Process: Abstract Painters, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
An Exchange with Sol Lewitt, Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA
Summer Invitational, The Hallward, Dublin, Ireland
Press
TAAC Talk: Virtual Studio Visit / Interview w/ Paul Behnke, 2022 (web)
Tempo Magazine (cover image), Taos News, July 20, 2022
Structural Color: Paul Behnke and Bill Page’s On the Road, William Corwin, Gallery and Studio, 2022 (web)
Ahtcast Podcast Interview, 2022 (web)
Paul Behnke a Champion of Painting, Art Spiel, 2022 (web)
Art Matters, Radio Interview w/ Paul Behnke, 2021 (web)
Artists on Coping: Paul Behnke, Art Spiel, 2020 (web)
An Interview with Paul Behnke, Curator, 2016 (web)
A Conversation with Paul Behnke, Figure / Ground, 2014 (web)
Paul Behnke: A Video Interview, Gorky’s Granddaughter, 2014 (web)
The Ability of Paint, Painters’ Table, 2014 (web)
Who’s Afraid of Hot Pink, Canary Yellow and Midnight Blue by John Yau, Hyperallergic, 2013 (web)
An Awful Rainbow, James Panero, 2013 (web)
Ahtcast Podcast Interview, 2013 (web)
In Sickness and In Health: The Brucennial, Jed Perl, The New Republic, 2012 (web)
Publications/ Catalogs
2017 Work Release: Pro Forma, catalog essay by Dr. Vittorio Colaizzi
2016 The Thing I Came For, catalog essay by David Rhodes
2014 Form and Facture: New Painting and Sculpture from New York, catalog essay by Karen Levitov
2014 Eight Painters
2013 An Awful Rainbow, catalog essay by James Panero
2010 Like Giants, catalog essay by John Yau
Grants/Awards/Fellowships
2024 Farm Studio International Artist Residency, Rajasthan, India (upcoming)
2014 The Golden Foundation Residency Program, New Berlin, NY
2008 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
Visiting Artist/Lecturer/Panelist
2018 Trans∙cen∙der, Session- September 2018, Brooklyn, NY
2018 National College of Art and Design, Dublin Ireland
2017 Work Release, Pro Forma: Context and Meaning in Abstraction, Norfolk, VA
2015 The University of Hawai'i at Manoa, New New York, Honolulu, HI
2014 Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Eight Painters, New York, NY
2013 Flecker Gallery at Suffolk County Community College, Temporal Shifts, Selden, NY
Curatorial Efforts
2022 Lauren Dana Smith: Box Breath, The Wright Contemporary Project Space, Taos, NM
Ira Wright: Self-Portraits, The Wright Contemporary Project Space, Taos, NM
2020 Monklike Habits | online project space, Director/curator
2015-2017 Stout Projects, Co-director, Brooklyn, NY
2014 Eight Painters, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY