Lost & Found II: James Reka

24 November - 23 December 2025

Overview

Many painters, like myself, have painted murals or graffiti in abandoned locations around the world. I noted that some in the past had discarded their empty spray cans, paint-tins and other painting materials amongst the debris.

I decided to start searching for and collecting these beautifully, naturally decayed and rusted paint tins and cans. The intention was to use them as a medium for me to manipulate and paint directly onto. I initiated a process that, in a sense, was a reinvention of these discarded objects.

Through my intervention, these objects discarded as rubbish transform into precious and desirable artworks. Painting tools that past explorers had already used to create are now part of the creation process again. This idea that I have the power to alter these objects' destiny, giving them a new history through my painting process, became the foundation for 'Lost & Found'.

- James Reka