Wanderers, the second solo exhibition by Sam Andrea opens on Friday, September 2 at Gallery Vriend van Bavink.
The works in this exhibition read like a visual report of the wanderings Andrea (°1991) has made in recent years. With new paintings, woodcuts and for the first time also sculptural work, Andrea takes you along on a journey that leads from Mexican slums to the nightlife of Amsterdam, from the rugged Brittany coast to the anarchy of Haarlem’s Slachthuis 13.
Andrea is fascinated by locations and people who find themselves on the fringes of society, enlivening te scene with their colourful presence. Just like his muses, Andrea is in search of freedom.
Every place Andrea visits is uncompromisingly and bravuraly put through the wringer of his romantic mind, only to be put on canvas with uncompromising honesty. Friends become muses, strangers become friends, and he himself oversees it all with a piercing gaze, trying to capture this confusing world in paint. Intimate scenes and strikingly subdued portraits alternate with hedonistic feasts, full of joie de vivre and not devoid of self-mockery.
‘Wanderers’ is an ode to the mystery of life and a last salute to the departed.
Sam Andrea is a painter pur sang, known for his virtuoso technique, coupled with a vivid coloration, and dark subject matter. Previously, Gallery Vriend van Bavink showed his work in a solo exhibition at the former Art History Institute, at Big Art and Art Rotterdam.
Text: Wouter van de Koot