In his first solo exhibition at Galerie Mikael Andersen, Barka (b. 1986) is showing a series of vibrantly colourful paintings on canvas and works on paper created after extensive traveling around the world in a continuous blend of cultures and colours; they are brought together through examples of the rhythmic and often iconic repetitive nature of visual pattern design.

Barka’s sun-drenched cityscapes from Los Angeles, everyday scenes from São Paulo or Salvador, and the street life of New York City and London all explore the narratives of the people, places and things around him while often finding eccentric ways to structure colours and form cohesion on the canvas.

“The quest for visual patterns found in nature and art is a constant theme found in my work and practice,” Barka says. His paintings are rich in tone and texture and always intertwined with fashion and cultural references to style within popular culture.

Pattern Up presents open spaces and introspective portraits. But no one in Barka’s portraits directly returns your gaze. Instead they live their lives and the paintings become investigations into notions of identity and community – they become stories about people.