(1980 – )

Paul Senyol
Contemporary
Overview

Paul Senyol is an abstract painter who reflects the details of everyday life, paired down to an empathy with colour, line and form. His work is a crafted response to his wonderings through various spaces.

The colours and textures of urban and natural environments inform his spontaneous practice in the studio where every material he uses – acrylics, pastels, ink, pencils and spray paint – is chosen for the particular mark it can contribute to a finished composition.

Senyol has been studying art and the mark since his fascination with skateboarding magazines as a teenager in Cape Town. Skateboarding emerged as a gateway to early creative works on the street and remains an important part of Senyol’s experience of urban spaces. He makes regular visits to the public library to source graphics, album covers, magazine layouts and illustrations.

Senyol’s unique visual language is founded on the inevitable change and flux in environments. His works are testament to the translation of experiences into form.

Paul’s work can be found in the corporate collections of Spier, ABSA and PWC.

Exhibitions

2021
Urban Art, group exhibition, Rust en Vrede Gallery, Cape Town; As far as forever will take us, trio exhibition, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town

2020
CTAF, Art Fair, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town; The Grand, group exhibition, Rust en Vrede Gallery, Cape Town; Memorial, solo exhibition, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town; A Hazy Shade of Winter, group exhibition, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town; Home is where the art is, group exhibition, Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town

2019 – Nano 1.3, group exhibition, Barnard Gallery, Cape Town; Entropy, group exhibition, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town; SCAF, Art Fair, Salon Ninety One, Sydney, Australia; Wildflowers, group exhibition, Salon Ninety One, Cape Town. Investec Cape Town Art Fair with Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Regarding Winter’, group exhibition, Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Markers’, solo exhibition, David Krut, Johannesburg; ‘The Distance from Afar’, group exhibition, Glen Carlou gallery, Paarl

2018
‘Recollectionary’, solo exhibition, Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Folklore’, end-of-year group exhibition, Salon91, Cape Town; RMB Turbine Art Fair with Salon91, Johannesburg; FNB Joburg Art Fair with Salon91; Johannesburg; Investec Cape Town Art Fair with Salon91, Cape Town.

2017
‘Trees Make Forests’, end-of-year group exhibition, Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Simulacrum’, group show, Gallery2, Johannesburg; Mural participant, ‘International Public Arts Festival’; ‘Fathoms’, a two-man exhibition with Linsey Levendall, Salon91, Cape Town; Turbine Art Fair with Salon91, Johannesburg; FNB Joburg Art Fair with Salon91, Johannesburg; Investec Cape Town Art Fair with Salon91, Cape Town.

2016
‘Kindle’, Gallery2, Johannesburg; ‘Oracle’, an end-of-year group exhibition, Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Inhabitant’, a solo exhibition at Salon91, Cape Town; Turbine Art Fair with Salon91, Johannesburg; Cape Town Art Fair with Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Paper Is You III, group show at Salon91, Cape Town.

2015
‘Every Idle Word’, solo exhibition, Gallery2, Johannesburg; ‘This is the Place’, group exhibition, Salon91, Cape Town; Top 10 Finalist exhibition, Barclays L’Atelier; ‘Polynesia’, painting exhibition with Cathy Layzell, Salon91, Cape Town; Investec Cape Town Art Fair with Salon91, Cape Town.

2014 Investec Cape Town Art Fair with Salon91, Cape Town; Turbine Art Fair with Salon91, Johannesburg; ‘Odd Traditions’, exhibition with Pierre Le Riche, Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Paper is You II’, group show, Salon91, Cape Town; Artist-in-residence, Arteles Creative Centre, Finland; Artist residency, Neustadt Symposium, Germany

2013 – Investec Cape Town Art Fair with Salon91, Cape Town; ‘A Vacant Passage’, exhibition with Andrzej Urbanski, Salon91, Cape Town; ABSA L’Atelier Top 100 Finalist

2012 – ‘The Man of Dust’, solo exhibition at Salon91, Cape Town; ‘Gather’, exhibition with Augustine Kofie, Lovell Gallery

2011 – ‘Paper Is You’, group show, Salon91, Cape Town; 6511 Miles, Pro-Artibus Residency, Finland; ‘Urban Aesthetic’, group exhibition, Worldart Gallery, Cape Town; ‘Broadcasts’, KZNSA Gallery, Durban

2010 – Stroke 03 Urban Art Fair, Berlin. 2008 – ‘Under These Skies’, two person exhibition with Wesley Van Eeden, Salon91, Cape Town.

Featured Artwork