Keya Tama (b. 1997) is a South African artist based in New York City. Inspired by pastel color palettes, patterns and symbolism, he has been active as an artist and muralist since the age of thirteen. His style can be described as ancient-contemporary minimalism: by distilling and refining imagery into minimalist forms while preserving their essence. His works seek to reunite the old and the new. He achieves this through contrasting yet harmonious iconography. Drawing from the rich visual language of art history, Keya Tama combines recurring themes to uncover sharp contrasts and unexpected connections. The result is a body of work that feels unusual and striking, yet oddly familiar.
Working primarily with acrylic paint, his paintings convey a strong graphic sensibility. Across his oeuvre, recurring themes emerge including the tension between the ancient and the contemporary, family and community, monomyths and minimalism.
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