Desire Obtain Cherish
(USA, b. 1975)

Desire Obtain Cherish (D.O.C.), a.k.a. Jonathon Paul, is a Los Angeles, USA based artist whose works have attracted an audience worldwide. From early roots in L.A.’s street art scene, his repertoire has grown to encompass major international exhibitions such as the renowned Venice Biennale art festival in 2015. New York’s famous Saks Fifth Avenue in 2016 invited D.O.C. and his iconic Meltdown installations to take part in an art and fashion collaboration. The artist’s unique vision and fresh style have also attracted the eye of respected collectors including New York's Mandarin Oriental Hotel, The Ecclestone Collection, The Feinberg Collection, La Laliberte Collection, American DJ Diplo and NBA player Dirk Nowitzki and Andrei Kirilenko.

New York Saks Fifth Avenue

2015 Venice Biennale

As a graduate of Manhattan’s prestigious Parsons School of Design, D.O.C. has worked in the fields of fashion and advertising and has brought with him to the fine art world an insider's knowledge of society's obsession with brand and image. This obsession and it’s effects are often parlayed into parodying, satirical, and darkly humorous messages within his work. Through a multifaceted approach spanning the genres or street, pop, and appropriation art, D.O.C. tackles sensitive and provocative issues of materialism, fame, addiction, gender and sexuality, identity, religion, and politics. He plays on our desires, questions what's obtainable, and mocks what we cherish, shining a light on the ills of consumption and the societal pressures that foster it. The New Yorker art critic Benjamin Genocchio characterized his work as “not malicious, even if his works cut to the bone. He is more like our social conscience, delivering up uncomfortable and unpleasant truths wrapped in the most beautiful and seductive of packages.”

To achieve his vision, D.O.C. has cultivated highly skilled and often painstaking production techniques in media such as cast resin and plastics, gelatin pill capsules, and traditional acrylic and oil paints. In his piece Heresy’s Cross, a cast resin sculpture, D.O.C. has juxtaposed the permanence of religion in our cultural landscape with the impermanence and fleeting satisfaction of melting milk chocolate. The product is a clash of lasting faith with that of a fleeting high. In addition to symbolism, D.O.C. has long made witty text a central aspect of his work, which is also evident in Afterparty, a piece reflecting the current defeated mood of the U.S. political landscape. This after-party isn’t a jubilant celebration but rather a dire representation of both political parties and their respective colors as sadly deflated blue and red balloons. In another ode to expectation versus reality, D.O.C. gives us It’s Been Swell, but the Swelling’s Gone Down, a timeline of contemporary art mythology printed on canvas. From an image of Picasso, then moving on through a vibrant collage of works by pop and street art notables, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst, and Banksy, the imagery ends with canvas peeled back exposing gold bars beneath, a darkly humorous and self deprecating view of underpinnings in the world contemporary art.


Selected Solo Exhibitions

2020 Horn of Plenty 10 Year Retrospective, Los Angeles
2019 off-gassing from the CLOUD Bluerider ART Taipei
2018 To The Victor Belongs The Spoils UNIX Gallery New York
2017 yourkiddingright Bluerider ART Taipei
2016 Servant Of Infinite Distraction, UNIX Gallery New York
2014 Addict Bluerider ART Taipei
2014 We Are Known By The Company We Keep UNIX Gallery New York
2013 Galen At The Galen Palm Springs Art Museum Palm Springs
2013 McLaughlin Gallery McLaughlin Gallery San Francisco
2013 KM Fine Arts KM Fine Arts Los Angeles
2013 Galerie Bel Aire Fine Art Galerie Bel Aire Fine Art Gen?ve
2012 UNIX Gallery UNIX Gallery Miami
2011 Lab Art Lab Art Los Angeles

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 The Blue Danube, Bluerider ART,Shanghai
2021 Mental Space, Bluerider ART, Taipei
2018 Spring Show Hong Kong, Bluerider ART, Hong Kong
2018 Bluerider ART at Art Tainan 2018, Bluerider ART, Taipei
2018 Fantastic 4, Bluerider ART, Taipei
2017 Der Blaue Reiter Bluerider ART Taipei
2015 In Visual Dialogue UNIX Gallery New York
2015 Efflorescence UNIX Gallery New York
2015 Sweet Sensations William Benton Museum of Art Storrs
2015 Summer Show, UNIX Gallery New York

Selected Art Fairss

2020 Spring/Break Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
Zona Maco, Mexico City, Mexico
2019 Spring/Break Art Show, New York, NY
Spring/Break Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Art Miami, Miami FL
2017 Art Miami, Miami FL
Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, Palm Beach, FL
Art Central, Hong Kong
Art Taipei, Taipei Taiwan
2016 Art Miami, Miami, FL
Art 16, London, UK
Art Central, Hong Kong
Art Taipei, Taipei Taiwan
Art New York, New York, NY
Art Wynwood, Miami, FL
LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Art Miami, Miami, FL
Art Stage Singapore, Singapore
Texas Contemporary, Houston, TX
Art Southampton, Bridge Hampton, NY
Art 15 London, London, UK
Art Miami New York, New York, NY
Art Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA
2014 Zona Maco, Mexico City, Mexico, MX
Art Miami, Miami, FL
Art Toronto, Toronto, CAN
Art Hamptons, Watermill, NY
Art Aspen, Aspen, CO
LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
Art Southampton, Southampton, NY

Select Museum Exhibitions

2017 Sweet Tooth: The Art of Dessert, Shelburn Museum, Shelburn, VT
2016 Feast For The Eyes, Nassau County Museum Of Art, Roslyn, NY
2015 Sweet Sensations, William Benton Museum Of Art, Storrs, CT
2013 Galen At The Galen, Palm Springs Art Museum

Select Public Works

2019 “Lucky Break” Sculpture, Los Angeles, CA for Mack Real Estate Development.
2017 “Cherry Meltdown” Sculpture, Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas for ICA
2016 “Rose Colored Glasses” Sculpture, Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas for ICA
2015 “Cherry Meltdown” Sculpture, Venice, ITL for Venice Biennale Centurion Plaza Hotel

Selected Collections

Joseph and Diana Dimenna, New York, NY
Chris and Richard Mack, New York, NY
Diplo, Los Angeles, CA
The Mandarin Oriental, New York, NY
Jose Martos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Gilbert Benhamou, Miami FL
Dirk Nowitzki, New York, NY
Andrei Kirilenko, New York, NY
Stephen Mack, Los Angeles, CA
The Ecclestone Collection, London, UK and LA
The Feinberg Collection, Los Angeles, CA
La Laliberte Collection, Quebec, CAN
Select Television
2015 “The Streets Are A Canvas”, James Daichendt, Ed.D, TedTalks
2012 “Street Artists Series,” Cafe Racer for Discover Channel
2012 “I Am Other – Street Art vs. Illegal Billboards,” Voice of Art

Select Press & Bibliography

2020 “From a Tucked-Away New York Town, This Facility Brings Large-Scale Art to Life”,Metropolis Magazine
2020 “The Interiors Of This Glamorous Palm Beach House Start With The Art”, Elle Decor
2019 “Where Nature Meets Art: Inside The ManMade by Nature Show”, Barneby’s Magazine
2019 “Inside the Performance That Is Making People Cry at Spring/Break Art Show”, Galerie Magazine
2019 “Inside the Performance That Is Making People Cry at Spring/Break Art Show”, Galerie Magazine
2019 “Artist Jonathan Paul’s New Project Will Divide Fair Goers at the Spring/Break Art Show”,Artnet News
2019 “Social Observations from Frieze Los Angeles”, AnOther Magazine
https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/11506/social-observations-from-frieze-lo s -angeles
2018 “In Jonathan Paul’s New Exhibition, Two Goats Compete in an Absurdist Game About Human Nature”, ArtNet News
2018 “This Art Show Starring Two Live Goats is Basically Your Life”, New York Post
2018 “NYC Fall Art Round Up: Highlights”, 6sqft
2018 “NYC Fall Art Season Opens With Robotic Chairs, A Porn Shop, And Pygmy Goats”,Gothamist
2018 “Not To Miss in New York’s Art World This Week”, ArtNet News
2017 “3000 bags of LV Heroin Seized”, The Fashion Law
2016 “You’re A Servant to Infinite Distraction”, VICE Creators
2016 “Best Of LA ArtShow” LA Times
2016 “In The Age of Social Media…Desire Obtain Cherish” KCET
2016 “Never Ending Pursuit of Happiness”, Widewalls.ch
2016 “L’ironia pop concettuale di Desire Obtain Cherish” collaab.it
2016 “Future Anesthetics” Wall Street International
2015 “Artist Installs Nine Foot Tall Lolipop Along Venice’s Grand Canal”, by Briget Gleeson ARTSY
2015 “Sex, Desire, and Dictators at the LA Art Show”, ARTNet News
2015 “Owners Reinvent Lobbies As Artspaces”, New York Post
2015 “Artist Desire Obtain Cherish Takes Aim At The Art World”, ARTSY
2015 “Jonathan Paul’s Ironic Take On Fashion, Fame, and Consumerism”, HG.com
2015 “On The Edge: Art Central Rocks Hong Kong”, Huffington Post
2015 “New Work By Artist Desire Obtain Cherish at art Miami”, If It’s Hip It’s Here.com
2015 “Unix Gallery” by Roberto Zaragoza, EJ Central.com (Mexico)
2015 “Crece Imán del Arte Actual,” by Jesus Pacheco, El Golfo (Mexico)
2015 “Desire Obtain Cherish: Art With Good Taste,” Fahrenheit .com
2015 “Get To Know: Desire Obtain Cherish,” by Martin Julio, Young Offenders.com
2015 “Desire Obtain Cherish Makes Commentary on Consumerism” Acclaimmag.com
2015 “Consumption in Pills,” Ideafixa.com (Portugal)
2015 “Desire Obtain Cherish’s Sculptures,” News Easy Branches.com
2015 “Desire Obtain Cherish’s Sculptures Explore Our Obsession With Consumerism, Fame, And Luxury” by Erotica, Juxtapoz
2015 “The Subversive Art of Desire Obtain Cherish,” Jungle Gym Magazine.com
2014 “Scope NY Desire Obtain Cherish: Drugs, Fame, and Art” by Lisa Derrick, Huffington Post
2014 “Contemporary Obsessions & Desires as Art by Desire Obtain Cherish” Tamika Frye,StupidDope.com
2013 “Desire Obtain Cherish’s #undertheinfluence Channels L.A.’s Dissolute Soul” by Benjamin Genocchio, Blouin ArtInfo
2013 “L.A. Artist Desire Obtian Cherish Opens #undertheinfluence Exhibition” by Lydia O’Connor,Los Angeles Magazine
2013 “Desire Obtain Cherish: #undertheinfluence”, by G.James Daichendt, Artweek.LA
2013 “Desire Obtain Cherish Solo Los Angeles Exhibition at KM Fine Arts” by Lori Bjork, San Francisco Examiner.com
2013 “El Arte Se Hace Un Lifting”, by Avelina Lesper, Milenio (Mexico)
2013 “Fashion Pills”, CO/INCIDE.com
2013 “Artworks For The Cure 2013 Benefit Set for Barker Hangar”, Broadway World.com
2013 “Prestigious Pill-Popping. Designer Drugs by Desire Obtain Cherish”, If It’s Hip It’s Here.com
2013 “Artistas que Debes Conocer Jonathan Paul,” Rude Magazine.com
2013 “Designer Drugs by Artist Desire Obtain Cherish,” Trend Safari.com
2013 “Desire Obtain Cherish: Un Artiste Anticonformiste À Suivre,” The Milliardaire.com (France)
2013 “Designer Drugs”, GDL Magazine (Holland)
2013 “Desire Obtain Cherish”, Streets Are Saying Things.com
2013 “Label Me!” by Sıla Güven, The Bone Magazine.com
2013 “Logowahn”, Plot Magazine (Germany)
2013 “Designer Drugs by Artist Desire Obtain Cherish” by Doya Karolini, The 6 Million Dollar Story.com
2013 “Art: ‘Designer Drugs’ by Desire Obtain Cherish” by Emiko Swag, Swag Section.com
2013 “LA Art Show: Desire Obtain Cherish, Diamond, Dust Duschamp, and Series of Portraits”by Lisa Derrick, Cart Wheel.com
2013 “The Art of Desire Obtain Cherish” by Nickj, Life Lounge.com
2013 “Designer Drugs: As American As Apple Pie” by Jessica Czeck, Visual News.com
2012 “50 Greatest Hits from Miami’s Art Fair Extravaganza” Blouin Art Info.com
2012 “Jagged Little Pills”, by Rachel Sanzone, Maniac Magazine.com
2012 “Il dissacratore della fashion addiction: Desire Obtain Cherish”, Fools Journals.com
2012 “Fashion Recap: Artist targets label addicts” by Cindy Ha, SF Gate Magazine
2012 “Designer Drugs by Desire Obtain Cherish” by Loannis, Perfect Lounge.com
2012 “Desire Obtain Cherish Designer Drugs”, Hurricane Vanessa.com
2012 “Art Reviews”, by Tanya Yvette, La Bohème Miami.com
2012 “Designer Drugs Crucial to our Existence says Desire Obtain Cherish,” GizmoDiva.com
2012 “Desire Obtian Cherish’s Designer Drugs” by Cyril Foiret, Trendland.com
2012 “Designer Drugs’ at the Miami Art Fair,” by Martin, Next Guru Now
2012 “Art Miami and Context: The Most Intriguing Food Art We’ve Seen” by Laine Doss, Miami News Time
2012 “Pill-Popper” by Cai Subijano, Philstar.com
2012 “Designer Drug’ Sculptures Inspired by Luxury Fashion”, by Justin Korkidis Complex.com
2012 “Letterlijk Verslaafd Aan Mode” NSMBL.com (Netherlands)
2012 “La Moda Crea Dipendenza? Arriva la Terapia di Desire Obtain Cherish,” Sfilate.com (Italy)
2012 “Pourquoi C’est Important Les Médocs Griffes de Jonathan Paul” by Zisla Tortello, Elle (France)
2012 “Pílula fashionista: Artista Contemporâneo Cria ‘Remédio’ Com Logos de Marcas Grifadas,”Pure Trend.com (Portugal)
2012 “Viciada em grifes? Artista Cria ‘Pílulas Grifadas’” by Shirley Stamou, GarotasModernas.com(Portugal)
2012 “Jonathan Paul Thinks You’re Addicted to Drugs,” Pout Perfection.com
2012 “I Farmaci ‘Fashion’ di Jonathan Paul” by Riccardo Fano, Panorama (Italy)
2012 “Accros a la Mode?” Mode Doctissimo.com (France)
2012 “Desire Obtian Cherish: La Moda es una Droga,” Oh Mundo Cruel.com (Mexico)
2012 “Desire Obtain Cherish: Designer Drugs ‘Artist’s Luxury fashion Rhapsody – High fashion’MM33.com (China)
2012 “If luxury brands to enter the pharmaceutical industry,”Live Door.com (Japan)
2012 “‘Designer Drugs’ by Jonathan Paul” by Brian Farmer, High Snobiety.com
2012 “Cool Drugs by Desire Obtain Cherish” by Sara Ferron, Pig Mag.com (Italy)
2012 “Jonathan Paul ‘Designer Drugs’ Mixes Fashion and Drug Culture” by Trenton Millar, Trend Hunter.com
2012 “One Artists Quest to Destroy Pop Culture for the Greater Good,” LA Canvas Magazine
2012 “Les Sculptures de la Semaine N35!” Houhuhaha.com (France)
2012 “Stay Up Los Angeles Street Art” by G.James Daichendt, Street Art Book On LA StreetArtists
2012 “Street Art Expression” by G.James Daichendt, Beverly Hills Lifestyle Magazine
2012 “Review/Critique of Miami’s Art Scene” by Adam Lindemann, Ian Deleon Arts.com
2012 “Finding Art in Adderall and Handcrafted Dust Balls: Two Noteworthy Exhibitions in Miami”by Tara Solomon, Huffingtonpost
2012 “Art Interrupted,” Bunker Hill Magazine
2012 “Is This Illegal?” Brooklyn Street Art.com
2011 “Street Scape,” Los Angeles Times Newspaper
2011 “Desire Obtain Cherish versus Stella Artois on Hollywood Boulevard,” Tanjabarnes.com
2011 “Desire Obtain Cherish Show At Lab Art,” All City Street Art .com
2011 “Desire Obtain Cherish First Solo Show, Los Angeles Coverage,” StreetArtNews.com
2011 “Inside The Launch of Street Art’s Desire Obtain Cherish Debut”, Guest Of A Guest.com

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