The artwork is a vibrant abstract painting featuring a bold use of colors. The canvas is dominated by a striking orange sun-like shape surrounded by dynamic, white geometric forms that resemble fireworks or floral elements. The overall composition creates a sense of movement and energy, with the fiery colors and expressive brushstrokes lending a playful and whimsical quality to the piece. The artist's distinctive style and technique suggest a focus on capturing the essence of a festive, celebratory moment through an abstracted, non-representational approach. ...
Kentaro Okumura captures the people and places of his everyday life, yet he prioritizes the impression of a scene over precise form. His paintings convey the fluidity of experience, whether depicting a stretch of Scottish coastline, a Nairobi chang’aa brewery, or an interior in London, reflecting the continual shifts of his own perception and subjectivity. Okumura applies paint in a layered, mesh-like manner. Thick yet airy, his brushstrokes leave trails of pigment that suggest texture and movement. The final layers are draped rather than flattened, forming a network of intersecting marks that gradually resolve into recognizable imagery—reminiscent of a net crusted with salt, both structured and ephemeral. Drawing on his upbringing between China and Japan and his current life in London, Okumura develops a personal visual vocabulary of signs and symbols, which function as carriers of thought and feeling. His work engages with a long-standing dialogue in painting, exploring the tension between representation and abstraction, while maintaining a sensitive attention to memory, perception, and the transience of lived experience. ...
The Approach is co-directed by Jake Miller and Emma Robertson. Located in Bethnal Green above The Approach Tavern, for over twenty years it has operated an internationally recognised programme from its East London base. The gallery is known for discovering artists and establishing their careers as well as making inter-generational curated group shows a strong focus. The list of represented artists includes the Estates of important overlooked female artists Heidi Bucher and Maria Pinińska Bereś, as well as seminal British collage artist John Stezaker, together with established and emerging artists including Magali Reus, Peter Davies, Lisa Oppenheim, Sandra Mujinga, Pam Evelyn, Sara Cwynar, Sam Windett and Caitlin Keogh. Over the years the gallery has operated parallel programmes in additional gallery spaces in London’s West End (The Approach W1) and in Shoreditch (The Reliance). The gallery is currently based solely in its original East End location and continues to expand its programme, showcasing its represented artists in the main gallery space, and both represented and non-represented artists in The Annexe, a smaller, more experimental space at the back of the building. ...
