Hues

cadet capela is pleased to present Hues, a solo exhibition by German-Irish artist Paul Hutchinson. Mainly working in photography and text, Hutchinson questions social processes in urban space.

Looking at inner city culture, issues of social mobility, and his own disposition within society, Paul Hutchinson’s practice invites reflection on our connection to urbanity and the ways in which we, as citizens, take ownership of it.

For his first solo exhibition in France since 2016, the artist showcases photographs created over the past five years: While some of his works reference thoughts on class and exclusion, or illustrate the harshness of city life, others show a certain bittersweetness, moments of sensuality and beauty, or investigate means of formal abstraction.

Hutchinson takes us on an intimate exploration of the metropolis, sometimes featuring his hometown Berlin, sometimes featuring other large urban contexts. In his photographs, the city is transformed into an artistic universe, both loud and reserved, in which each work embodies a unique fragment. We see a concrete block illuminated by the last light of dusk, a metro exit glowing golden in the night, a seemingly hostile close up of an escalator, or the shadow of a flower gliding over our clothes.

These seemingly trivial details reveal both a story of attachment and tension between the individual and their urban environment. Hutchinson depicts this ambivalent relationship of tenderness, questions, and sometimes rebellion everyone weaves with the city. His works invite us to rediscover the social realities that define our movements across public and private spaces and to explore the hidden intimacy that ties us to every corner, every cobblestone, every play of shadow and light.

Paul Hutchinson also layers his own writing with his photography, creating subtle explorations between gesture and language: His silkscreen prints create ambiguity by merging text and image. At first glance, the phrases they display seem ordinary, yet they carry multiple connotations, borrowing references from colloquialisms or the artist’s personal notes. These works allow the artist to play with the boundaries of representation and abstraction, to blur the precise outlines of the photographed subject, and to question the very limits of the photographic medium. In this hazy, uncertain space, the image becomes a playground where interpretation unfolds freely, inviting the viewer to explore new meaning beyond normative depiction:

My writing practice actually precedes my photographic practice. But I’ve only given it space, and made it part of my artistic output, much later. As images express things that words can’t, vice versa, words express things that images are not able to. And, to me, I always found an affection to both media. Bringing both together can be challenging (…) But in the best case they don’t stand in competition with each other, but rather complement each other, open each other up.

In his creative process, Hutchinson distills his own text and image production until an adequate translation of his inner thoughts emerges. While doing so, uncertainty is not an obstacle but an asset, an openness that allows space for experimentation and enquiry into uncharted territory.

Through this new exhibition, Hutchinson continues to capture the imprint of cities, transforming their landscapes and stories into a commentary on the state of the world. The metropolis, with its contradictions and tensions, remains a source of inspiration and reflection in his work, where every detail, however fleeting, enables both a critical examination of the human condition and, ultimately, a mirroring of the self.