Pioneering artist Paul Fryer's collaboration with All Visual Arts

Artist’s Biography:

Paul Fryer briefly studied at the Leeds College of Art in the 1980s and instead of taking the degree, chose to become an electropop singer, recording several albums and singles.

In the early 90s he graduated in the unlikely profession of transvestite DJ and was instrumental in the creation of the widely acclaimed Kit Kat Club and Vague, art-based clubs in Leeds. Fryer spent his time as a prolific designer of underground ephemera for the dance scene, and produced many dance records for release.

Paul Fryer has undergone several metamorphoses in his creative life. He moved to London in 1996, where he designed books and other printed material for galleries, fashion houses and record labels. He also worked as technical consultant for a number of artists. His book of poetry, Don't Be So...,, was illustrated by Damien Hirst and published by Trolley Books in 2001.

His critically acclaimed multimedia show Electronic Elvis was successfully performed at several London venues in 2003 and 2005 and was released on vinyl and then reprised at the Glastonbury music festival. In the same year he left the Italian fashion house Fendi, after a five-year period as musical director, where he had been employed recording and coordinating soundtracks for the runway shows.

Since 2005 Fryer has devoted his time and energy exclusively to the making of art, a development that he regards as the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition. Paul Fryer lives and works in London and Derbyshire, splitting his time between his studio in Erith and his home on the edge of Sherwood Forest. A book of his work, Radiations, has just been published by Other Criteria.

Solo shows: Carpe Noctum, Trolley Gallery, 2005; Petit Mal, Masonic Temple (in association with Kristy Stubbs Gallery), 2006; Radiations, Julius Werner, Berlin, 2006; Potential & Ground, Manchester Square Fire Station, 2007.

Group shows: Lead By The Nose, Livestock Market, 1996; The Quick And The Dead, Leeds City Art Gallery, 1998; Sleight of Hand, Transposition, Curtain Rd 1999; 2001 A Space Oddity, James Birch, A22 Gallery 2001; The Courtauld Collection Show 2002; The BBC4 Launch, Old Saatchi Gallery, 2002; The Ark, T1+2, 2005; New Gothic, Tate Britain February 2006, Young And British, Galerie Mitterand Paris 2007; Reconstruction 2, Sudeley Castle 2007; The Tempest, Venice Biennale, 2007; You Dig The Tunnel…, White Cube, London 2008.

Artist’s Statement:

Electricity as power is taken for granted by most people in the 21st century, at least in the West. We have tamed this strange and violent energy, and keep it in plugs in the wall where it can’t be seen. We are aware of it only occasionally as lightning, which is a natural phenomenon and therefore largely beyond our sphere of influence. Although the physics required to make lightning is complex and fascinating, it is the phenomenon itself that Fryer finds hypnotic. The sculptures are primarily a way of making this visible.

The term Deus Ex Machina means “God from the Machine”, and Fryer has interpreted this literally rather than referencing its origins in ancient Greek theatre. Lightning is a terrifying force, violent and destructive. For one work he captures lightning in a cage and exhibits it for close inspection like a trapped devil. It is frightening to be near, and the feeling of unease it produces is cranked up by the unearthly shrieking and smell of the ozone as the electricity rends the air.