Paul Soulellis

Paul Soulellis is an American artist, graphic designer, publisher, and educator. He maintains his practice in Providence, Rhode Island. His work includes teaching, writing, and experimental publishing, with a focus on queer methodologies, network culture, and archival justice. His writings and work are cited in scholarly research, and his publications are collected and exhibited worldwide and on the internet.

Soulellis is the founder of Queer.Archive.Work, a non-profit project that joined Binch Press in 2021 to create a 2,000 sq. ft. library, print studio, and residency that supports a growing membership-based community of artists and writers. Binch/QAW has a mission to center Rhode Island-based queer and trans BIPoC voices with access to space and resources for experimental publishing. Studio projects include Open Library Hours, Community Supported Art, and the Queer and Trans Zinefest.

Soulellis is also the founder of Library of the Printed Web, a physical archive devoted to web-to-print artists’ books, zines and other printout matter. The collection of 244 works was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art Library in New York. Soulellis maintains his own art practice centered on publishing, and his books and zines have featured the work of hundreds of contemporary artists and writers. His work is in special collections at The Museum of Modern Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Walker Art Center; Yale University; Tate Britain; and many other institutions.

He has participated internationally in artist residencies including The American Academy in Rome (Rome, Italy), Nes (Skagaströnd, Iceland), Mildred’s Lane (Narrowsburg, NY), Dispersed Holdings (New York, USA), ArtCenter South Florida (Miami, USA), and the Internet Archive (San Francisco, CA).

He is invited to speak about his work and present his ideas about radical publishing internationally. He presented “Survival by Sharing” at “Publishing as Worldview,”, hosted by the Korean Society of Typography in Seoul, Republic of Korea. He presented “What is queer typography?” at Type Drives Communities, hosted by the Type Directors Club, as well as “Urgent Publishing After the Artist’s Book: Making Public in Movements Towards Liberation,” at the Contemporary Artists’ Book Conference, hosted by the Center for Book Arts at Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair. He presented “Urgentcraft” at the Eyeo Festival in Minneapolis, as well as at “The Conference” in Malmö, Sweden. He was a featured speaker in the 2018 Design Insights series, hosted by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Soulellis also maintains a robust writing practice, and his texts circulate widely. “Bad Archives” was published in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, edited by Shannon Mattern, and “Search, Compile, Publish” was anthologized in Publishing Manifestos, published by MIT Press. His essay “The Post as Medium” was featured in the book The Art Happens Here: Net Art Anthology, published by Rhizome/New Museum. Soulellis was a contributing editor at Rhizome from 2015–2018.

Soulellis is Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Rhode Island School of Design. (2024)

Links

• Website
• http://printedweb.org
• https://queer.archive.work/
• Mastodon: https://toot.community/@soulellis
• Twitter
• Are.na