Paris Hilton is many things, but nobody really thought she would ever become an art star. The iconic reality TV personality, who is the original influencer, not to mention DJ, beauty mogul and perfume-preneur, has been painting her way through quarantine.

Her artwork, I Dream Of Paris, is on view at the Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles until Friday, which is part of the Onch-curated group show entitled Sweet Sixteen. Her painting is going to be auctioned off to benefit the Starlight Children’s Foundation and Hilton will invite the winner to have dinner at her home (the bidding ends tomorrow and current bids are at $52,000).

“I’m so proud to make a beautiful piece of art to raise funds for the Starlight Foundation, a charity that helps children and is so close to my heart,” Hilton tells Forbes.

“The importance of being a philanthropist is something that has been instilled in me since I was a little,” she says. “I feel so blessed in life and it’s so important to give back.”

Hilton, as always, has a lot going on. Her forthcoming YouTube Originals documentary “This is Paris,” premieres September 14 on her YouTube channel. She recently announced, too, that she’s also working on her second book, which will dish on how to be a #BossBabe, a guide for women entrepreneurs.

But an artist? Nobody would have thought. It all started this past April when Hilton showed off some of her paintings (and paintings in progress) as part of a studio tour released on YouTube. She featured a piece with a painterly rainbow background, a painting of her boyfriend’s mother’s cat, a piece featuring rows of emojis (from heart eyes to an emoji listening to headphones). It’s all as saccharine as a Marilyn Minter photograph, optimistic like a cartoonish Kaws character and somewhat comically familiar, like a Ron English painting.

When did she become a visual artist, exactly? “I have loved art my whole life,” says Hilton. “I have been an artist since I was a little girl.”

It seems that now she is finally able to bare her soul to the public through social media by letting us into her studio. “I have built an art room in every home I’ve ever owned,” she says. “It’s so important for me to have that space in my house to be creative.”

Hilton is, without a doubt, a pop artist. By using imagery we’d find in the media, whether it’s Sonic the Hedgehog to diamond jewelry and emojis, there’s the same kind of cultural sampling she uses as a DJ to fuse together a set. Except in the past, pop art, which saw its rise in America and the U.K. through the 1950s, was predominatly dominated by men, like Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist and Andy Warhol. Even the female pop artists today, like Yayoi Kusama and Martha Rosler have only been acclaimed much later in life. It signals a shift we’re seeing, post #MeToo.

Hilton’s paintings are somewhat of mood boards, or even dream boards, where you lay out everything you want in life onto a surface, like a visual collection of goals, dreams and wishes. Hilton’s own artworks represent the visualization and realization of her own dreams.

“My I Dream Of Paris piece represents the dreams and goals I had for myself when I was young,” said Hilton. “It is almost like a mood board of everything I aspired to have or be like when I grew up.”

While it’s a two-dimensional artwork, it combines three dimensional elements. With collaged photos, magazine cut-outs, plastic toys, crystal rhinestones, as well as metallic and acrylic charms, it truly is a wild trip to every shelf in an art supply store.

“I love going to Michael’s Art Supply Store and Blick,” says Hilton. “I find my best fun sparkly objects on Etsy. Etsy has everything!”

Her influences range from modern art masters from the 1960s to pop artists and surrealists, as well as contemporary artists we see in art galleries today.

“I’ve always looked up to and loved Andy Warhol,” says Hilton. “He is such an iconic legend. I also love Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Kaws, Takashi Murukami, Ai Weiwei, Olivia Steele, Kaws and Salvador Dalí.”

In her I Dream Of Paris piece, she uses a photographic portrait taken from a recent cover shoot for Rollacoaster magazine, where she is wearing one of her favorite brands, Juicy. Making art, in itself could be channeling the same kind of energy required for posing through a photo shoot.

“I love listening to upbeat music that puts me in a good mood like Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream album,” said Hilton. “I also really love painting to chill beautiful music like any song by Rufus du Sol and Coldplay.”

Full interview: forbes.com

Paris Hilton, formerly of The Simple Life, announced that she will be releasing a YouTube documentary this fall, called This Is Paris, which is all about her life. The documentary will cover the trials and tribulations of the hotel heiress, including a very traumatic experience she had at a young age.

The reality TV star is well known for her influence on pop culture. Paris has always been fashion-forward and is seen as a fun-loving and bubbly. Moreover, many people consider Paris to be the original ‘influencer’, who started many social media and pop culture trends that are prevalent today. Throughout her career, she’s inspired many other celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.

At the end of July, Paris released a trailer for This is Paris. The trailer gives viewers a sneak peak of what will be covered in the documentary. As In Touch reported, the This is Paris trailer includes clips of Paris discussing how difficult it was to talk about old trauma. “I’m nervous, I’m shaking,” the Hilton heiress said. “It’s hard to even eat because my stomach is just like turning. I don’t know … it’s something that’s very personal and not something I like talking about. No one really knows who I am. Something happened in my childhood. I still have nightmares about it.” Check out the promo video below, via Paris Hilton at Instagram.

Paris Hilton said that fans may anticipate discovering more details about her personal life in the documentary. This is Paris will cover toxic relationships and public scrutiny that Paris endured in addition to how these events impacted her life. Reality star Kyle Richards from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Nicky Hilton and Kathy Hilton are included in the documentary. Also, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, Kim Kardashian, will make an appearance, too.

Ever since Paris Hilton announced the release date of her documentary, anticipation has begun. Fans have been supportive of Paris and so have fellow celebrities. Holly Madison from The Girls Next Door wrote, “Dying to see this! Congrats!”.

Paris Hilton has been releasing pictures on Instagram from earlier parts of her life as promotion for her documentary.

Many media personalities put on a show when they appear publicly. The facade that a celeb displays is not always the same as who that person is on the inside. Paris Hilton’s documentary, This is Paris, will show the side of the Hilton heiress that we have never seen before. Audiences will gain an understanding of why she became the person she is today and how her life experiences shaped her. As she mentioned in the trailer, it wasn’t easy to talk about her trauma and bad experiences, especially since this is the first time she is addressing it publicly. Even though Paris has gone through her own struggle to create this documentary, the former star of The Simple Life’s story will be inspiring.

This is Paris is set to release on September 14th through Paris Hilton’s YouTube channel.

Source: screenrant.com