REASONS TO CHECK OUT STREET ARTIST KEYA TAMA’S WORK
We caught up with the SA-bred, LA-living artist to uncover what he’s about
Keya Tama, previously known as Jack Fox, is a young South African street artist setting the international art scene alight. He’s based in Los Angeles at the coalface of progressive street art, but maintains that “culturally, South Africa is not replaceable”. Typically his murals depict either man or animal and the connection they share with a link to the environment that the work exists in. “Murals are important because it’s the only time when your art is actually alive and plays a functional and intrinsic role in the world. Everyone walking past interacts with and affects the outcome of the piece, as well as the mood and aesthetic of the area where the work is situated.”
Surprisingly, Tama prefers to work his large-scale murals in everyday household paint, but switches to ink to express the finer details in his often-patterned line work. For his upcoming LA solo show, he’s turned his gaze to embroidery.
Reasons to keep an eye on him:
1 Because, simply, he’s the son of SA’s street art darling FaithXLVII and tattoo artist Tyler B Murphy, two of the country’s top creative exports who have indelibly shaped his career. It was his parents who took him to international street art festivals as a young boy and instilled his artistic drive.
2 Because his work is rooted in deep thinking and symbolism, exploring themes of self-discovery, love, darkness and empathy. “My intention is to explore the world through a creative perspective that compartmentalises the burdens of reality without suppressing them; in a sense making ideas simple, accessible and vividly personal while remaining symbolic.”
3 Because he believes in the power of art to bring positive change. “Murals are different to writing and photography because they take the artist from being an observer of life to being integrated within it,” he says. “It’s my hope that people start creatively redefining our environment by adopting an approach that is not elitist, giving art back to the people and letting the working class and those who live outside of the art world define its utility.” He plans on shifting our gaze onto the exteriors of buildings, to ornamental details and tile work so that the public is proud of their communal spaces.
4 Because he managed to secure a solo exhibition (his second) at the Cartoon Network headquarters in Burbank, California. The show, entitled Paper Tiger, included a three-storey mural — his largest so far. Also in the show are collaborative embroidered works that pay tribute to SA’s rich history — with needle and thread. Furthermore, five years ago, at the age of 15, he painted a piece of the Berlin wall which is still part of a global travelling exhibition.
5 Because he’s on the brink of a major colour deviation. Well-known as an artist who works in black and white, Tama enjoys the restriction that working in black and white provides, saying that the boundaries urge him to get straight to the point. However, colour, as well as a more two-dimensional, geometric exploration is afoot. “I have been moving towards a minimalistic style that focuses on shape over line, making colour important to utilise.”