Paul Verdell

Paul Verdell is a painter based in Detroit, Michigan. Originally from Long Beach, California, he moved to Ohio as a teen and received a BFA from Bowling Green State University in December of 2018. Verdell approaches drawing and painting through the chosen media of oil and acrylic paints, oil pastels, and crayons, adding loose and instinctive marks to his two-dimensional works. He experiments freely with gesture and application through a constant cycle of creation and modification, working mutually with his material to allow it to reveal its desired form. What results from this focus on process are luminous and wild expanses of pigment that highlight Verdell’s agility and proficiency with color, a foundation upon which his practice thrives. Influencing the artist’s conceptual root is both internal discourse—an ongoing attempt to understand himself within a shifting and uncertain world through the act of painting—as well as his Black American heritage.


Born in Long Beach, CA in 1991
Lives and works in Detroit, MI

Paul Verdell at Black Rock Senegal in 2022 — undefined

Paul Verdell at Black Rock Senegal in 2022

Color to me is life, and I want to express that in the works as much as possible.

— Paul Verdell

Selected Work

Paul Verdell — undefined

Paul Verdell

Wrinkles, Folds, Silver and Golds, 2024
Acrylic, oil, and collage on canvas
72h x 86w in

Paul Verdell — undefined

Paul Verdell

Big Fury, 2023
Oil on canvas
60h x 72w in

Paul Verdell — undefined

Paul Verdell

Crimson Shore, 2023
Oil stick on canvas
60h x 72w in

Paul Verdell — undefined

Paul Verdell

A road to glory, 2022
Oil on Canvas
72h x 72w in

Paul Verdell — undefined

Paul Verdell

In the waves, 2022
Oil stick on paper
47h x 69w in