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Untitled
4 x 6 inches
Ink and acrylic on postcard
1974


“The card is one of 500 multiple originals—each one unique. Many artists and poets did the series [...] Some others were Gordon Newton, Brenda Goodman, Bob Sestock, Joe Brainard. Poets were Ted Berrigan, Anne Waldman, Alice Notley, and Robert  Creeley, to name a few.” –Ken Mikolowski, The Alternative Press

Paul Schwarz was born in Detroit in 1946 and raised in Warren, Michigan. He attended the Art School of the Society for Arts and Crafts (now the College for Creative Studies) from 1965 to 1968. Then, in part as a protest to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada, returning to Detroit two years later to further his studies at Wayne State University (1970 – 1973). The young artist lived in several buildings around Detroit’s cultural center, including the Forsythe Building where several other noted Detroit artists had gathered. Schwarz’s work was featured regularly in metro Detroit and he received his first exhibition with Colin Fraser at the noted Willis Gallery, Detroit, in 1974. It followed with a one-person exhibition in 1977.  His work was also included in the defining exhibition “Kick Out the Jams: Detroit’s Cass Corridor 1963 – 1977,” presented at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1980 and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 1981. While many Detroit artists moved to New York City by this time, Schwarz continued to live in the Cass Corridor. It wasn't until 1994 that he moved to Oak Park, Michigan, with artist and poet Christine Monhollen. They married on St. Patrick’s Day (the artist’s favorite holiday) in 1998. He died of cancer shortly after.

Schwarz’s work may be found in collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts and Wayne State University, as well as many noted private collections. During his lifetime, Schwarz’s work was also exhibited at Cranbrook Art Museum, Flint institute of Art, Wayne State University Art Gallery, Feigenson Gallery, Feigenson-Rosenstein Gallery, Feigenson-Preston Gallery, and Hill Gallery. In 1999, he was honored with a retrospective exhibition at Center Galleries, College for Creative Studies and in 2017, Paul Kotula Projects presented “Paul Schwarz: A Shadow in Never Still, Chapter One, 4:55” and “Chapter Two, 7:15” at Paul Kotula Projects and 700 Livernois (formerly Susanne Hilberry Gallery), respectively.  The gallery continues to represent the artist’s estate.







Founded in 2020, Three Fold is an independent quarterly based in Detroit that presents exploratory points of view on arts, culture, and society in addition to original works in various media, including visual art, literature, film and the performing arts. We solicit and commission contributions from artists, writers, and activists around the world. Three Fold is a publication of Trinosophes Projects, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in the historic Eastern Market neighborhood in downtown Detroit. Click here to check out Three Fold’s events page and view a schedule of the publication’s on-site activities.

Three Fold recognizes, supports, and advocates for the sovereignty of Michigan’s twelve federally-recognized Indian nations, for historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, for Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and for those who were forcibly removed from their Homelands. We operate on occupied territories called Waawiiyaataanong, named by the Anishinaabeg and including the Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), and Bodewatomi (Potawatomi) peoples. We hold to commit to Indigenous communities in Waawiiyaataanong, their elders, both past and present, and future generations.