Newcastle University

Paul Becker is an artist and art writer who has recently moved from Berlin to Newcastle upon Tyne. Becker uses art, historical and storybook references as source material for his painting. He brews up this material, mixing it with a private history of contradictions, humour and fear, resulting in disturbing, embarrassing and interesting juxtapositions. His paintings explore the extremities of human feeling, exploring human relationships as a device with which to draw us into a mysterious environment. The viewer is immersed in scenes of anxiety, eroticism and violence, which are both playful and disconcerting. The erotic, the gentle, the childish and the arcane co-exist uncomfortably and disturbingly.

Becker graduated from The Slade School of Art in 1999 with an MFA and Kingston Polytechnic where he completed a BA (Hons) in 1989. Recent solo exhibitions include; 'Noble Prince Of The Royal Mysteries', Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne (2008); 'Fontanelle,' Transition Gallery, London (2005) and

recent publications; 'The Silent Kid', a graphic novel and animation (currently in production); 'False Testimony: Collected Writings,' Published by Lenz Books.