2019
plastic grocery checkout divider, riso print on paper
16 1/4 in. x 1 in. x 1 in.
Edition: 15 of each individual divider / 10 sets of four
Here Shortt uses standard grocery store dividers as a political object. His slogans agitate for unity and interconnectedness, rather than division and sectarianism. There are four messages nested inside the dividers: Make Space, No Separation, Shared Area, and Don’t Divide. They are available individually or all four can be purchased as a limited editon set. Signed and numbered.
Paul Shortt received his MFA in New Media Art from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his BFA in Painting from the Kansas City Art Institute. His videos have been shown at the Museum of the Moving Image, The Phillips Collection and Whitespace Gallery. He has been in numerous group shows in DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, and New York City. He has participated in residencies at The Luminary, in St. Louis, MO and at Montgomery College in Silver Springs, MD. His works usually engage the public in physical interactions and conversation that examine everyday experiences and cultural norms often in humorous ways through video, books, performance and temporary public art. He has participated in the Printed Matter Art Book Fair’s in New York City and Los Angeles in addition to art book fairs in Detroit, Kansas City and Baltimore. His artist books are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, and the Fisher Fine Arts Library at the University of Pennsylvania. Shortt has spoken about his work at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, China and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri. He has been written about in Hyperallergic, the Washington Post, Bmore Art and Review Magazine. Shortt formerly worked as the New Media Curator for Arlington Cultural Affairs in Arlington County, VA. Shortt is currently based in Florida.
