09.06 - 10.07.2021
Paul Senyol, Elléna Lourens & Keya Tama
As Far as Forever Will Take Us is an intimate group exhibition featuring the works of Paul Senyol, Elléna Lourens, and Keya Tama.
The Artists, each in a different stage of their career, have a visuality strongly rooted in the language of graphic street art and urbanism. As Far As Forever Will Take Us brings the artists together to collaborate and converse, through painting, the strange concept of forever. For Paul Senyol, the exhibition title calls to mind larger questions about how far is forever, when would this eternity begin, and whether it is a communal or individual journey. The concept of forever, for Elléna Lourens, takes on a soft romantic meaning which suggests young love, promises made and broken, and the way in which intimate moments can make time feel irrelevant. This contrasts with the exuberance and nostalgia of the scenes depicted by Keya Tama; where forever seems to collapse in upon itself and the past, present, and future are all occurring at the very same moment.
Paul is an abstract painter who reflects the details of everyday life, paired down to an empathy with colour, line, and form. The colours and textures of urban and natural environments inform his spontaneous practice in the studio where every material he uses is chosen for the particular mark it can contribute to a finished composition. Elléna’s work often has a soft ephemeral feel which creates a delicate contrast between her subject matter and graphic style of the painting. Her use of reduced colour palettes and bold shapes creates a dynamic conversation between her depiction of human connection and the emotive qualities of colour. Keya’s style can be describe as ancient contemporary minimalism. The artist uses iconography and symbolism from the storehouse of art history and remixes their recurring themes to create stark contrasts and discover unexpected commonalities which produce unusual, arresting, yet strangely familiar works.
