Paul Harfleet

Paul Harfleet is a London based artist, writer and designer, founder of The Pansy Project and Birds Can Fly. In 2005 Paul began planting pansies at sites of homophobia, he plants one unmarked pansy, names it after the abuse then adds it to his website, www.thepansyproject.com. Since 2005 The Pansy Project has been featured in exhibitions and festivals around the world, he has planted over 300 pansies marking homophobia and transphobia from London, Paris, and New York. He’s recognised as a queer street artist, guerrilla gardener and self-proclaimed ‘accidental activist’. In 2010 The Pansy Project Garden won a Gold Medal at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, in 2014 he won a Gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In 2015 ‘Les Pensées de Paul, a documentary about Paul’s work and was commissioned by Canal + was directed by Jean Baptiste Erreca and won several Best Documentary awards. In 2017 Harfleet wrote and illustrated a picture book, ‘Pansy Boy’ was published by Barbican Press and was short-listed for the Polari First Book Prize. The book tells a fictionalised origin story of The Pansy Project, it tells the story of a boy who loves birds and challenges his experience of homophobia in school by planting pansies. When the Pandemic struck in 2020 Paul was faced with cancelled exhibitions and festival appearances. Inspired by the illustrations he had made for Pansy Boy he asked is social media followers if he could draw them a bird. Over the following months during Lockdown this simple request evolved into a new body of worked called Birds Can Fly. To promote his illustrations he ‘gently referenced’ the birds he’d drawn garnering attention from thousands, including naturalist and campaigner Chris Packham. Birds Can Fly has developed into a small business supplying bird prints and nature themed garments inspired by the artists love of nature. As we slowly return to ‘normality’ Harfleet combines his work on The Pansy Project and Birds Can Fly with forthcoming exhibitions, projects and publications currently in development.