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Winnipeg Free Press, January 18, 2007
By Lorne Roberts
With so many of our young local artists receiving so much hype these days (did you happen to catch the multi-page spread
of local art star Marcel Dzama in the December 2006 issue of Vanity Fair?), it’s sometimes easy to forget about Paul Butler.
While others continue to attract major press both here and abroad, Butler has quietly remained one of our city’s top art exports,
with solo and group shows in a dozen major cities last year alone.
Currently, Butler has a single work on display in the local Semai Gallery, a new space run by recent U of M grad Takashi Iwasaki,
who has been garnering national recognition for his own work.
The work Butler has displayed here is deliberately cryptic and vague, as his work often tends to be. In a bit of a departure from
his familiar collage pieces, though, this one is mounted on a glowing light box, and contains a single phrase in bold red letters:
Power To The Artist.
According to Butler, the work refers to a recent movement of artists “taking control of how their work is represented, exhibited,
and circulated, (and) wearing multiple hats at the same time.”
Butler says that not only are more and more artists branching out into publishing, running galleries and organizing their own
exhibits, they’re also “taking art outside of traditional spaces, to connect with a larger audience and break down barriers.”
Few have done that as effectively as Butler in recent years, as his “collage party” shows have brought audiences into major galleries
from Winnipeg to Berlin, New York City and Los Angeles. Rather than simply being passive viewers of art, however, attendees at
Butler’s collage parties are expected to pick up some scissors, a magazine and some glue, and to actually help create the show.
As with much of his work, then Butler’s recent installation at Semai Gallery is part of his ongoing effort to recognize and empower
the artist in all of us.
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