Paul Hutchinson: City Within

THE BLANC is pleased to present Paul Hutchinson: City Within, the first solo exhibition in the US by Berlin-based artist Paul Hutchinson, curated by Shem Jacobs and Leo Yuan.

Spanning a decade of photographs, writings, and moving-image works, City Within explores the delicate terrain between external realities and inner life—the ways in which the city imprints itself upon us, and how we, in turn, shape its emotional architecture. Known for his attentive, empathetic gaze, Hutchinson moves between urban spaces and psychological states, capturing the pulse of contemporary existence through fragments of the everyday.

Rooted in his experience growing up in the northern part of Berlin’s Schöneberg district, Hutchinson’s images dwell on the overlooked: worn sneakers, scuffed walls, shifting light, traces of touch and movement. These fragments—both tender and raw—form a sensory cartography of city life, revealing how class, belonging, and aspiration manifest in the surfaces and atmospheres that surround us.

Presented alongside the photographic works are excerpts from Hutchinson’s writing, including his cycle 21 Poems (2023), a body of text pieces that distills his language practice into its most lyrical and direct form. Written in his distinctive, vernacular voice, these short poems hover between confession and observation, humour and fragility. They echo the tone of his photographs while expanding their register—transforming language into image, rhythm into feeling. Hutchinson’s interest in language also carries over into his Word Pieces—an ongoing series of silkscreen prints that physically merge his writing with his visual work, collapsing text and image into a single surface.

A projected moving-image work further extends this sensibility into time and motion. Composed of fleeting gestures and ambient scenes, the film translates Hutchinson’s still gaze into duration, mirroring the flow of the city—the way beauty, erosion, and restlessness coexist in constant negotiation.

Across these interwoven media, Hutchinson constructs what he calls an urban poetics: a language of empathy and endurance that arises from the margins of daily life. His works resist spectacle and hierarchy,

privileging small acts of attention over grand gestures. Within the dialogue between photograph, literature, and moving image, Hutchinson reveals the city as both external structure and inner state—a place built as much from consciousness as from form.

City Within invites viewers to move between surfaces and sensations, between the visible and the felt. It is a meditation on how we inhabit our environments and each other—how, even amid the noise and pressure of the urban world, moments of stillness, tenderness, and quiet resistance persist.

On View: Nov 7 – Dec 12, 2025

Gallery Hours: 11 AM – 5 PM, Wednesday to Saturday

Location: 15 E 40th Street, Ground Floor, New York, NY 10016

Opening Reception: November 7, 6-8 PM

Performative Reading by the Artist: November 8, 2025, 3 PM

Artist

Paul Hutchinson (b. 1987, Berlin) is a Berlin-based artist working across photography, text, and moving image. His work explores social dynamics, class, and identity through the overlooked gestures

of urban life. Educated at the Universität der Künste Berlin and Central Saint Martins in London, Hutchinson’s practice has been exhibited widely across Europe. His interdisciplinary approach— blending photography, writing, sound, and installation—has positioned him as a compelling voice in contemporary visual culture.

Hutchinson’s works are held in notable private and institutional collections, and continue to attract critical attention for their formal restraint, emotional depth, and social relevance. Hutchinson’s works

are held in notable private and institutional collections, including Museum Folkwang, Essen; Berlinische Galerie, Berlin; and Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, amongst others. They continue to

attract critical attention for their formal restraint, emotional depth, and social relevance.

Curator

Shem Jacobs is an independent curator, advisor and creative consultant, working with institutions, private clients, gallery partners and leading brands. His practice spans exhibition curation, artist collaborations, collection development, and cultural programming—always with a focus on projects that deepen engagement and spark dialogue. Educated in arts management and having lived and worked in London, Shanghai, and now New York, Shem brings a refined, cross-cultural perspective to every collaboration. With a passion for championing exceptional artists, Shem also operates as a dealer, presenting thoughtfully selected works by emerging and established voices through private placements and curated projects.

Leo Yuan is a writer and curator based in New York. He holds a BA in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Art Business from the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York, and an MA in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. His writings can be found on Artnet, ARTnews China, The Brooklyn Rail, Art Basel Stories, among other places. He currently serves as Associate Director, Curatorial, at THE BLANC.