Paul Mpagi Sepuya

Paul Mpagi Sepuya (b. 1982, San Bernardino, CA) is an artist working in photography whose projects weave together histories and possibilities of portraiture, queer and homoerotic networks of production and collaboration, and the material and conceptual potential of blackness at the heart of the medium. His interests also include queer literary modernism, as well as questions of artistic responsibility and care regarding representation and refusal.

 

Sepuya received an MFA in photography at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, in 2016. From 2000 – 2014 Sepuya lived and worked in New York City, receiving a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2004. Sepuya became known for his 2005 – 2007 zine series SHOOT and body of work Beloved Object & Amorous Subject, Revisited (2005-8), along with participation and collaborations in the re-emergence of queer zines culture of the 2000s. He went on to participate in Artist-in-Residence programs at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Center for Photography at Woodstock, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Fire Island Artist Residency.

 

Sepuya’s work is in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MOCA Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Getty Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the ICA Boston, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the International Center for Photography, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Carnegie Museum, among others. Solo museum exhibitions include 144 Powers, The Alice Austen House Museum, Staten Island, NY (2022); The Hamilton Public Art Project, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA (2021); Drop Scene, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE (2020); Double Enclosure, Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2018); and Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO / Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston, Houston, TX. Recent group museum exhibitions also include: Photography Now, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK (2023);  Kinship: Photography and Connection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, (2023); Sightlines: Photographs from the Collection, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA (2022); The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today, National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C. (2022); Black American Portraits, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (2019); the 2019 Whitney Biennial, New York, NY; The Body Electric, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (2019); Being: New Photography 2018, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon, the New Museum, New York, NY (2017).

 

Sepuya’s work has been covered and published in ARTFORUM, Aperture, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Art Review, Frieze, Art in America, Monocle, Osmos, The Nation, and The Guardian among others. He was a recipient of the 2019 Rauschenberg Residency. He is Acting Associate Professor in Media Arts at the University of California San Diego and has taught at CalArts and Bard’s MFA program.

Works

Fish House Mirror (_1060652), 2019, 24 x 32 inches

Fish House Mirror (_1070368), 2019, 24 x 32 inches

Fish House Mirror (_1080062), 2019, 24 x 32 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A1933), 2019, 34 x 51 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A1948), 2019, 34 x 51 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4206), 2019, 50 x 75 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4215), 2019 34 x 51 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4216), 2019, 9 x 13 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4261), 2019, 50 x 75

Screen (_1100711), 2019, 34 x 45 inches

Screen (0X5A4359), 2019, 40 x 60 inches

A conversation around pictures (0X5A0816), 2019, 40 x 60 inches

A conversation around pictures (0X5A7523), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

Darkroom Mirror (0X5A4552), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

A portrait (0X5A8538), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

Darkroom Mirror diptych (0X5A4336, _1150028), 2019, 24 x 36 and 24 x 32 inches

Drop Scene (_1130068), 2019, 34 x 45 inches

Drop Scene (0X5A2742), 2019, 34 x 51 inches

Figure (0X5A4042), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

Figure (0X5A4229), 2019, 9 x 13 inches

Figures (0X5A7800), 2019, 13 x 9 inches

Paul Mpagi Sepuya, A Ground (0X5A1495), 2018, Archival pigment print, 51 x 34 in, Edition of 5

Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Black Mirror Study (_2110109), 2018, Archival pigment print, 24 x 32 in, Edition of 5

Installation view at Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, 2023 Photo: Sebastian Schaub
Courtesy of: The artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann

Fish House Mirror (_1060652), 2019, 24 x 32 inches

Fish House Mirror (_1070368), 2019, 24 x 32 inches

Fish House Mirror (_1080062), 2019, 24 x 32 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A1933), 2019, 34 x 51 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A1948), 2019, 34 x 51 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4206), 2019, 50 x 75 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4215), 2019 34 x 51 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4216), 2019, 9 x 13 inches

Mirror Study (0X5A4261), 2019, 50 x 75

Screen (_1100711), 2019, 34 x 45 inches

Screen (0X5A4359), 2019, 40 x 60 inches

A conversation around pictures (0X5A0816), 2019, 40 x 60 inches

A conversation around pictures (0X5A7523), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

Darkroom Mirror (0X5A4552), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

A portrait (0X5A8538), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

Darkroom Mirror diptych (0X5A4336, _1150028), 2019, 24 x 36 and 24 x 32 inches

Drop Scene (_1130068), 2019, 34 x 45 inches

Drop Scene (0X5A2742), 2019, 34 x 51 inches

Figure (0X5A4042), 2019, 24 x 36 inches

Figure (0X5A4229), 2019, 9 x 13 inches

Figures (0X5A7800), 2019, 13 x 9 inches

Paul Mpagi Sepuya, A Ground (0X5A1495), 2018, Archival pigment print, 51 x 34 in, Edition of 5

Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Black Mirror Study (_2110109), 2018, Archival pigment print, 24 x 32 in, Edition of 5

Installation view at Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, 2023 Photo: Sebastian Schaub
Courtesy of: The artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann

Press

2024 2.15

Press: Frieze

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2024 1.30

Press: British Journal of Photography

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2024 1.29

Press: Wallpaper Magazine

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2024 1.27

Solo Exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2024 1.26

Press: Another Magazine

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2024 1.25

Press: Dazed Magazine

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 11.17

“Copy Machine Manifesto: Artists Who Make Zines” Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 10.4

Group Exhibition at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco.

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 10.4

Group Exhibition at Cloud Seven, Brussels, Belgium

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 10.4

Group Exhibition at Flag Art Foundation, New York.

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 9.30

Group Exhibition at the Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen, Germany

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 5.30

Le Quotidien de l'art

ARCO Lisboa

2023 5.6

Group Exhibition at SF MOMA

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 4.27

Group Exhibition at MACRO

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 3.26

Group Exhibition at Hammer Museum

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 3.23

Group Exhibition at Edouard Merlier Photo Gallery

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 3.15

Los Angeles Times

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 3.9

e-flux- Exhibition programme 2023

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 3.4

Group Exhibition at MANDEVILLE ART GALLERY

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 2.26

Solo Museum Exhbition at Temporary House of Photography

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 2.18

Event-"It's Time": Conversation moderated by Larry Ossei-Mensah

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 2.14

Group Exhibition at La MaMa Galleria and Lehman College Museum of Art

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 1.15

Group Exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 1.14

Group Exhibition at Vielmetter

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 1.14

Group Exhibition at The Center for Photography at Woodstock

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2023 1.7

Group Exhibition at Samiose

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 11.25

Solo Exhibition at The House of Photography at Deichtorhallen Hamburg

Paul Mpagi Seguya

2022 11.25

Press: V Magazine

Viewing Pleasure: Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 9.3

Solo Exhibition at Vielmetter

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 8.18

Group Exhibition at the Museum of the African Diaspora

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 7.8

Press: Cultured

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 6.1

Solo Biennial Presentation at Centre for Contemporary Photography in Melbourne

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 5.27

Acquisition by Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 5.27

Group Exhibition at the Getty Museum

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 5.26

Group Exhibition at Los Angeles Contemporary Archive

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 5.20

Solo Exhibition at Bortolami Gallery

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 5.19

Artist Lecture: “ICA Speaks: Paul Mpagi Sepuya”

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 5.13

Press: Document Journal

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 4.30

Group Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 4.19

Group Biennial Presentation at Bienal de Coimbra

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 2.26

Group Exhibition at Fotomuseum Winterthur

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 2.24

Group Exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 2.5

Group Exhibition at MCASB

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 2.3

Group Exhibition at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 2.1

Group Exhibition at Lehigh University Art Gallery

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2022 1.14

Group Exhibition at James Cohan

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 12.7

Group exhibition at Princeton University Art Museum

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 12.6

A Magazine curated by Grace Wales Bonner

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 12.2

The Art Newspaper

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.15

Artsy

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.12

Numéro

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.7

Group Exhibition at LACMA

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.5

Frieze

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.5

The Art Newspaper

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.4

Les Inrockuptibles

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.4

5 Questions, 5 Artists Panel at LACMA Online Public Programs

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 11.1

Solo presentation at Paris Photo

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 10.29

Photographs published in Fantastic Man, Issue 34

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 10.7

Finalist for 2022 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 9.7

Group exhibition at Grinnell College Museum of Art

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 9.2

Group exhibition at Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 9.1

Wallpaper Magazine limited edition cover

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 7.15

Athens Biennale - AB7: ECLIPSE

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 7.10

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 4.27

Art Viewer

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2021 3.18

Artadia 2021 Los Angeles Awardee

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2020 12.28

Artists for Akbar - Solidarity Print #3

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2020 12.10

Solo exhibition at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2020 9.18

Solidarity Print #2

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2020 6.2

Solidarity Print

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2020 5.20

Participation in NADAs online art fair initiative: FAIR

Elizabeth Atterbury, Sterling Lawrence, Erin Jane Nelson, Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2020 4.28

The Guardian

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2020 4.4

Monograph via Aperture and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis⁠

Paul Mpagi Sepuya

2019 12.5

Art Basel Miami Beach 2019

DOCUMENT at Art Basel Miami Beach 2019

2019 10.19

Blaffer Art Museum

Paul Mpagi Sepuya at Blaffer Art Museum

2019 10.16

Artnet News

From Bruegel in Vienna to Basquiat in Paris, Here Are 38 Must-See Museum Shows Worth Traveling for This Fall

2019 9.14

Glamcult

Paul Mpagi Sepuya at Foam Amsterdam

2019 5.17

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

Paul Mpagi Sepuya at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

2019 5.17

Whitney Museum of American Art

Paul Mpagi Sepuya: Whitney Biennial

2019 4.27

Stonewall 50

Paul Mpagi Sepuya: Stonewall 50 at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

2019 3.29

The New Yorker

Paul Mpagi Sepuya Mines the Queer History of the Portrait Studio

2019 3.28

The New York Times

New York Art Galleries: What to See Right Now

2019 3.1

ARTFORUM

PROJECT: PAUL MPAGI SEPUYA

2018 10.18

FIAC

DOCUMENT at FIAC Paris 2018

2018 5.18

Contemporary Art Daily

Paul Mpagi Sepuya at DOCUMENT

2018 4.19

Newcity Art Review

INTIMATE MOVES IN A DARK ROOM, PAUL MPAGI SEPUYA AT DOCUMENT

2018 4.14

ARTFORUM

ARTFORUM CRITICS’ PICKS

2018 3.18

MoMA

Being: New Photography 2018

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