Paul Cupido’s affinity for the natural world was born out of a childhood spent on the Dutch island of Terschelling, where the ebb and flow of tides and the cycles of the moon reflect the fleetingness of life. Cupido’s work is furthermore inspired by Japanese photography as well as his travels there. Japanese philosophical principles, and especially that of Mu, permeate his creative practice. Mu could be loosely translated as ‘does not have’ or a ‘void’, albeit one that holds potential. Cupido’s economy of form and lyrical compositions, encompassing landscape, portraiture and still life, invite to look beyond the visible—while he is rigorous in his attention to the quality of printing and his choice of paper stock. He photographs widely while traveling and reflects on the results later, which after a period of contemplation means a renewed journey of discovery, in which the intuitive editing of seemingly unrelated images leads to serendipitous combinations.
Paul Cupido (1972) graduated with honors from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam in 2017. He has since published various artist books, among which Searching for Mu (2017), Continuum (2019), and 4 a.m. (2021)—each one in collaboration with graphic designer Akiko Wakabayashi. Cupido’s work has been exhibited widely, among others at Paris Photo, Unseen, and Nordic Light Festival. Cupido’s work is represented by Bildhalle Gallery (Zurich & Amsterdam), Danziger Gallery (NYC & LA), and The Photographer’s Gallery (London). In 2022 Cupido has been invited to become the inaugural artist-in-resident for INSTANTS, a Château Palmer and Leica residency program.
Artist statement
"I aim to engage with the world with wide-open senses. My work is about the magic moments of life as well as its inconveniences. I want to take pictures while forgetting about the process of photography, until I’m saturated with an existential sense of life. Every step I take begins with the notion of ‘mono no aware’: the transience of everything, the gentle melancholy of things, being sensitive to ephemera."
Paul Cupido (1972) graduated with honors from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam in 2017. He has since published various artist books, among which Searching for Mu (2017), Continuum (2019), and 4 a.m. (2021)—each one in collaboration with graphic designer Akiko Wakabayashi. Cupido’s work has been exhibited widely, among others at Paris Photo, Unseen, and Nordic Light Festival. Cupido’s work is represented by Bildhalle Gallery (Zurich & Amsterdam), Danziger Gallery (NYC & LA), and The Photographer’s Gallery (London). In 2022 Cupido has been invited to become the inaugural artist-in-resident for INSTANTS, a Château Palmer and Leica residency program.
Artist statement
"I aim to engage with the world with wide-open senses. My work is about the magic moments of life as well as its inconveniences. I want to take pictures while forgetting about the process of photography, until I’m saturated with an existential sense of life. Every step I take begins with the notion of ‘mono no aware’: the transience of everything, the gentle melancholy of things, being sensitive to ephemera."
Artworks
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Recommendations
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CV
Media
A Narrow Road to the Unknown
In October 2020, Paul Cupido’s short film “A Narrow Road to the Unknown” premiered at the Nordic Light Festival in Kristiansund (Norway). We love this film for the way in which it visualises the musicality of Cupido’s art and shares with us his intuitive approach. Recommendation: enjoy the film with sound on the big screen; let yourself be carried away – and into Paul Cupido’s visual and acoustic universe.
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In museum collection:
Foam
Market position
Paul Cupido (1972) graduated with honors from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam in 2017. He since published a handful of books, including the artist’s publications Searching for Mu (2017) and Continuum (2019) in collaboration with graphic designer Akiko Wakabayashi. Cupido’s work has been exhibited widely internationally, among others at Paris Photo, Unseen, and Nordic Light Festival. In 2017 he won the Hariban Jury Award. Cupido is represented by Bildhalle Gallery (Zurich & Amsterdam) and Danziger Gallery (New York City).
CV
EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)
2023
Dawn Chorus, The Photographers Gallery (UK)
Unseen Amsterdam, solo presentation, Bildhalle (NL)Coming to Light, group show, Bildhalle (NL)
Photo London, group show, Bildhalle (UK)
Séléné, Leica Gallery Paris (FR)
Perfectly Imperfect, IBASHO (BE)
2022
Paris Photo, group show, Bildhalle (FR)
Traces - Museum Hilversum (NL)
Remembering You - Solo exhibition, Bildhalle (NL)
Unseen Amsterdam - Bildhalle (NL)
InCadaqués (ES)
Ocean - Bildhalle Amsterdam (NL)
Photo Basel - Bildhalle (CH)
AIPAD 2022, NYC (US)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
Flora Photographica — Flowers Gallery, London (UK)
Bergamot Station — Danziger Gallery, Santa Monica, LA (US)
Extra Ordinary — The Photographers Gallery, London (UK)
Photobooks. Art Page by Page — GRASSI Museum, Leipzig (DE)
2021
The Photo Book as Object — IBASHO, Antwerp (BE)
Anna Singer Art — Singer Museum, Laren (NL)
Paris Photo 2021 — Bildhalle (FR)
Paul Cupido — 4 a.m. Solo Exhibition @ The Photographers Gallery London (UK)
Photo Basel — Bildhalle (CH)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
UNSEEN, Amsterdam — Bildhalle (NL)
Mizu — Summer group exhibition @ IBASHO (BE)
Rencontres d’Arles — IBASHO (FR)
Art Rotterdam — Bildhalle (NL)
2020
Mukayu — Solo Exhibition, Bildhalle Amsterdam (NL)
Nordic Light Festival, Kristiansund (NO)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
Mukayu — Solo Exhibition @ IBASHO, Antwerp (BE)
No Man is an Island, Museum IJsselstein (NL)
FFO 2020, Oslo (NO)
Anna Singer Art — Singer Museum, Laren (NL)
Paper Positions Berlin — Bildhalle (DE)
AIPAD 2020, NYC (US)
2019
Paris Photo (FR)
UNSEEN, Amsterdam (NL)
Moments of Wonder — Solo Exhibition @ Kahmann, Amsterdam (NL)
Ephémère — Solo Exhibition, Bildhalle, Zurich (CH)
Seaside at Bildhalle, Zurich (CH)
Photo Basel — Bildhalle (CH)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
2018
This Art, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam (NL)
Encontros da Imagem / Discovery Awards 2018, Braga (PT)
Festival Internacional de Fotografia Paraty em Foco (BR)
ACCOLADES (SELECTION)
2022 The Best Dutch Book Designs of 2021 (NL) • 2022 Finalist EI Photobook Award 2022 (PT)
2022 LensCulture, Favorite Photobooks of 2021 — selected by Laura Moya, Photolucida (US)
2021 Fisheye Photo Review (FR)
2020 LensCulture, Favorite Photobooks of 2019 — selected by Anaïs Lopez (NL)
2020 BJP — Notable Photobooks of 2019 (UK) • 2019 Jury Top Selection, GESTE Paris (FR)
2018 Finalist Discovery Awards, Encontros da Imagem (PT)
2017 Window Of Wonder, Tipi Bookshop (BE)
2017 New Dutch Talent (NL)
2017 HARIBAN Juror’s Choice Award — selected by RongRong & Inri (JP)
2017 Artist Residence Winner Belfast Photo Festival (UK)
COLLECTIONS
Foam First Editions (NL)
International Center of Photography, NYC (US) • Danziger Collection (US)
Van Lanschot Art collection (NL)
RESIDENCIES
2022 Château Palmer (FR)
2019 Can Serrat (ES)
2018 LabVerde, Amazonia (BR)
2017 Docking Station — Belfast Photo Festival (UK)
ARTIST BOOKS
2021 4 a.m. — self-published
2019 Continuum — self-published & Edition Bildhalle
2017 Searching for Mu — self-published (BR)
BOOKS
2020 Mukayu — the(M) éditions & Ibasho Gallery
2019 Amazônia — Alauda Publications & Bildhalle
2019 Ephémère — Edition Bildhalle
2023
Dawn Chorus, The Photographers Gallery (UK)
Unseen Amsterdam, solo presentation, Bildhalle (NL)Coming to Light, group show, Bildhalle (NL)
Photo London, group show, Bildhalle (UK)
Séléné, Leica Gallery Paris (FR)
Perfectly Imperfect, IBASHO (BE)
2022
Paris Photo, group show, Bildhalle (FR)
Traces - Museum Hilversum (NL)
Remembering You - Solo exhibition, Bildhalle (NL)
Unseen Amsterdam - Bildhalle (NL)
InCadaqués (ES)
Ocean - Bildhalle Amsterdam (NL)
Photo Basel - Bildhalle (CH)
AIPAD 2022, NYC (US)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
Flora Photographica — Flowers Gallery, London (UK)
Bergamot Station — Danziger Gallery, Santa Monica, LA (US)
Extra Ordinary — The Photographers Gallery, London (UK)
Photobooks. Art Page by Page — GRASSI Museum, Leipzig (DE)
2021
The Photo Book as Object — IBASHO, Antwerp (BE)
Anna Singer Art — Singer Museum, Laren (NL)
Paris Photo 2021 — Bildhalle (FR)
Paul Cupido — 4 a.m. Solo Exhibition @ The Photographers Gallery London (UK)
Photo Basel — Bildhalle (CH)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
UNSEEN, Amsterdam — Bildhalle (NL)
Mizu — Summer group exhibition @ IBASHO (BE)
Rencontres d’Arles — IBASHO (FR)
Art Rotterdam — Bildhalle (NL)
2020
Mukayu — Solo Exhibition, Bildhalle Amsterdam (NL)
Nordic Light Festival, Kristiansund (NO)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
Mukayu — Solo Exhibition @ IBASHO, Antwerp (BE)
No Man is an Island, Museum IJsselstein (NL)
FFO 2020, Oslo (NO)
Anna Singer Art — Singer Museum, Laren (NL)
Paper Positions Berlin — Bildhalle (DE)
AIPAD 2020, NYC (US)
2019
Paris Photo (FR)
UNSEEN, Amsterdam (NL)
Moments of Wonder — Solo Exhibition @ Kahmann, Amsterdam (NL)
Ephémère — Solo Exhibition, Bildhalle, Zurich (CH)
Seaside at Bildhalle, Zurich (CH)
Photo Basel — Bildhalle (CH)
Photo London — Bildhalle (UK)
2018
This Art, Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam (NL)
Encontros da Imagem / Discovery Awards 2018, Braga (PT)
Festival Internacional de Fotografia Paraty em Foco (BR)
ACCOLADES (SELECTION)
2022 The Best Dutch Book Designs of 2021 (NL) • 2022 Finalist EI Photobook Award 2022 (PT)
2022 LensCulture, Favorite Photobooks of 2021 — selected by Laura Moya, Photolucida (US)
2021 Fisheye Photo Review (FR)
2020 LensCulture, Favorite Photobooks of 2019 — selected by Anaïs Lopez (NL)
2020 BJP — Notable Photobooks of 2019 (UK) • 2019 Jury Top Selection, GESTE Paris (FR)
2018 Finalist Discovery Awards, Encontros da Imagem (PT)
2017 Window Of Wonder, Tipi Bookshop (BE)
2017 New Dutch Talent (NL)
2017 HARIBAN Juror’s Choice Award — selected by RongRong & Inri (JP)
2017 Artist Residence Winner Belfast Photo Festival (UK)
COLLECTIONS
Foam First Editions (NL)
International Center of Photography, NYC (US) • Danziger Collection (US)
Van Lanschot Art collection (NL)
RESIDENCIES
2022 Château Palmer (FR)
2019 Can Serrat (ES)
2018 LabVerde, Amazonia (BR)
2017 Docking Station — Belfast Photo Festival (UK)
ARTIST BOOKS
2021 4 a.m. — self-published
2019 Continuum — self-published & Edition Bildhalle
2017 Searching for Mu — self-published (BR)
BOOKS
2020 Mukayu — the(M) éditions & Ibasho Gallery
2019 Amazônia — Alauda Publications & Bildhalle
2019 Ephémère — Edition Bildhalle
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