Paul Goodnight
Art has been Paul Goodnight’s saving grace in his recovery from his traumatic experience in Viet Nam when he lost his ability to speak from seeing the horrors of war. Though some thought he had lost his mind, he knew he hadn’t and began to communicate with his drawings of the horrors of war. With the regaining of his voice, he enrolled in Vesper George School of Art and eventually earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Massachusetts College of Art in 1976.
Goodnight has developed his own unique aesthetic philosophy to document the humanity of Black people around the world. He often incorporates African themes and symbols to provide depths of history and culture. He has traveled extensively, living among the people of Russia, China, Haiti, Nicaragua and Brazil. In his work, Goodnight creates univeral themes seen through diverse cultural lenses.
Artist Statement
“I would like to be a skilled and consummate draftsman. I try to use a collection of sensuous colors, often revealing mysterious hidden forms. I would love to convey the ability to see between the figures, melding and infusing them into an environment of endless nuances where abstraction and representational images are comfortable in the same space and where passion and humanity resonate. Once I learn to do this well, I will be obligated to pass this on, just as this information has been based on to me. Thank God for our masters!
I also try to offer the rich evidence of love in the composition of ordinary Black people whom I’ve witnessed in my travels around the world. Men, women and children who are familiar, intimate and engaging have stories written all over them, waiting to be told. My goal is to expose these stories to delight the eye and to satisfy the spirit — in short, to make them live.”
