January 30, 2026
From Paul’s amazing website:
Paul Behnke (b. Memphis, Tenn.) is an American painter whose practice is grounded in contemporary abstraction, with a sustained engagement in chromatic intensity, gestural mark-making, and the formal possibilities of non-objective painting. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting from the Memphis College of Art.
Behnke’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions in New York City, Philadelphia, Heidelberg, Saint Augustine, and Memphis, and included in numerous curated group exhibitions in San Francisco, Honolulu, London, Dublin, Glasgow, Paphos, the Netherlands, Cernay-lès-Reims, and New York. His paintings have garnered critical attention in publications such as Hyperallergic Weekend, The New Criterion, and The New Republic, where his work has been situated within ongoing discourses around abstraction and contemporary painterly practice.
In addition to his studio output, Behnke contributes to the field as a writer and editor. His essays and critical reflections have appeared in AbCrit: A Forum for Debate on Abstract Art, Painters’ Table, Gamut, and No. Magazine. He served as co-editor of Shad Runn, an independent art zine based in Memphis, and has maintained Structure and Imagery, a blog dedicated to contemporary painting and visual culture, since 2011. From 2015 to 2017, he co-directed Stout Projects, an artist-run exhibition initiative in Bushwick, Brooklyn, focused on emerging and mid-career artists.
Following a three-year residency in Taos, New Mexico, Behnke currently lives and maintains a studio practice in Memphis, Tennessee.
