Paul Goodnight’s vibrant and emotional work has often been a reflection of his life. His career began some thirty years ago when, searching for a way to return some humanity and normalcy to his life and to expel the demons after returning from a tour of duty in Vietnam, he turned to painting.  His creative efforts were nurtured and inspired by artists like Alan Rohan Crite and Dana Chandler. He found a mentor and friend in the late master John Biggers with whom he continued to interact up to the time of Biggers’ death.

Goodnight has developed his own unique aesthetic philosophy to document the humanity of people around the world. He often incorporates African themes and symbols to provide depth to his explorations of history and culture. He has studied and travelled extensively to different parts of the world, living among the people of Russia, China, Haiti, Nicaragua, Africa and Brazil.

Goodnight’s images have appeared in television and film since 1984. These appearances include Seinfeld, Jackie Brown, The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, to name a few. He has been the subject of features and his work has been featured in numerous publications including Architectural Digest, Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise, People Magazine and the Boston Globe. He boasts a number of commissions and awards, among them poster commissions for the 1996 Olympics and the 1998 Soccer Wold Cup; American Airlines, Black Enterprise and the Urban League.

His work is in notable private collections which include Maya Angelou, Wesley Snipes, Angela Basset, Judith Jamison and former NBA hall-of-famer Isaiah Thomas. Among the public collections that host his work are the the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Smithsonian Institute, and Howard and Hampton Universities.

Paul Goodnight was born in Chicago and raised in New London, Connecticut and Boston, where he resides today.

Prints by Paul Goodnight

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