Kay Gasei (b.1991) was born in Lusaka, Zambia and currently lives and works in London. He studied Illustration at Oxford Brookes where he graduated with honours in 2014. His dynamic works combine the mythological with the historical, resulting in rich, ambitious yet ambiguous compositions. Gasei uses his imagination to draw on personal memories of the past, mixing these with historical research to create confident, complex works that collapse time and space. Gasei’s eclectic style blends abstracted, expressive mark making with figuration to play with the notion of narrative, creating fractured tales that maintain an air of obscurity despite feeling somewhat familiar.
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His works have a deep sense of self-reflection, with Gasei using both visual and literary tools to interrogate social systems. Formally, Gasei’s rich, textural areas of slowly built up impasto verge on the sculptural, sitting in contrast to the warm natural tones of the linen. The materiality of these works is ever present, with the ambiguity of the scenes allowing the works to be appreciated on a purely painterly level, stripped of meaning or pretence. Gasei’s hand is fast and blunt, capturing the energy and expression of both his process and characters. Cleverly playing with the three and two dimensional, Gasei’s works oscillate between representational and style, often appearing in flux or in progress - hinting at the notion of time and the creative process itself. Kay has been exhibited widely including two solo exhibitions in 2023; Aporia, Chilli Arts Project, London and Go With Yamo presents Kay Gasei’s Black Box Series, Fitzrovia London, several group exhibitions and fairs including Mythical Landscapes, Rele Gallery, Los Angeles, 2023, Skies and Stars, East Art Gallery, London, 2023, Art N Folly, Art Basel, Miami, 2021. His work can be found in the collections of Soho House and Knotel House and have been featured in multiple publications.
