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Displayed in a dedicated space in our Mayfair gallery, this presentation is open to the public, providing an intimate and informal environment from which to acquaint yourself with Lemstra’s works. Reserving a viewing slot is essential, so please make sure to book ahead of time.
“I regard these surfaces as collages of moments; while working in the studio I relive the city. Eventually, the memory of myself taking a fragment of the city at a specific place becomes subordinate to the long presence these remnants have had out in the world. The material’s state of deterioration has an unconventional beauty and invites us to imagine a long trail of memories and history – of the countless messages every generation leaves for each other throughout time.”
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"In childhood, one encounters and experiences many things for the first time. Through curiosity and imagination, these moments are lifted to almost magical heights. As you get older, new impressions become more scarce and it's a rare experience to be surprised by anything. I try to bring back the sense of wonder we remember from being a child, bridging the young and mature, by creating a contained fantasy world populated by my characters. With my work I like to refer to the illustrative nature of primitive drawings and sculptures. What I find interesting about these is the distortion as a result of selective emphasis; parts of interest are emphasized, unimportant parts reduced or left out. For characters this means they come out big headed, where focus is on the face and the body is trimmed to its essential properties. I deliberately apply this primitive logic as a method. But I don't apply it equally to all aspects of my work. Instead, I choose to use a very mature, highly laboursome technique for the execution of my work. This contrast, between the naive and sophisticated, gives the work a somewhat awkward taste. A clash of intent, simultaneously assuming simplicity and complexity, randomness and reason, flaws perfection. The purpose of which is to inspire a sense of joy and discovery."
- Raymond Lemstra -
About the Artist
Raymond Lemstra (b.1978, Groningen, The Netherlands) graduated from Academie Minerva in 2004 and moved to Amsterdam the following year, where he began his artistic career creating detailed, intricate drawings on paper. These works led him to pursue painting, which he developed in Somo, Spain and more recently in Seoul, South Korea.
