'There are many ghosts in Celia’s book, and they are animated, for the most part, by her ferocious will, her desire not to be ignored by the people she wants most, even if, or especially if, that desire can’t be reciprocated. But Celia is too intelligent a person to settle for the limits of her own imagination; by the end of the book she knows that wanting what you can’t have is just another way of being by yourself.' – Hilton Als
Image: Celia Paul, That Obscure Object of Desire, 2023
Oil on canvas
41 x 30.5 cm
16 1/8 x 12 in
16 1/8 x 12 in
© Celia Paul
Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro
November 9 2026
