Vibrant Graphite Portraits By Raymond Lemstra Featured In “Good Looking” Exhibition
A playful tinge of cynicism dances across each visage in Raymond Lemstra’s paintings at his new solo exhibition. The “Good Looking” series expands on the cultural journey Lemstra has undertaken during his metamorphosis as an artist. On view from 7 March to 4 April at Nanzuka Underground, this will be his second show with the gallery.
Rooted in meticulous graphite portraiture, Lemstra’s practice here enters new territory. These are his first paintings to employ materials that reflect his heritage, fusing traditional Dutch oil painting techniques with “hanji”, a traditional handmade Korean paper crafted from the inner bark of the paper mulberry.
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#1 Personnage Fictionnel (2026) Oil on hanji mounted on wood panel
Image Source: RaymondLemstra
#2 Personnage Fictionnel (2025) Graphite on cotton paper
Image Source: RaymondLemstra
In his ongoing series Personnage Fictionnel, Lemstra unveils a new body of work that includes 20 paintings and 6 drawings. Reflecting on this series, he notes, “I approach portraiture not as the depiction of specific individuals, but as a framework for evocation. Through attentive looking, it becomes an invitation to recognise something human in what is ultimately invented.”
He continues, “My portraits move between figuration and abstraction, where traits drawn from the real world merge with constructed elements. Through a balance of formal precision and distortion, they hover between familiarity and strangeness, allowing form to suggest an inner life and invite recognition without fixed identity. Drawing on a deeply rooted impulse to perceive faces and personalities in ambiguous forms, the works engage our tendency to project meaning. In this way, looking shifts from observation toward encounter.”
At first glance, Lemstra’s works may appear as faithfully realistic renditions, yet they portray anonymous human figures that feel both playful and faintly cynical. His distinctive works on paper are powerful yet delicate in their painstaking attention to detail, inviting viewers into a phantasmagoric realm that hovers between reality and the unreal.
#3 Personnage Fictionnel (2025) Graphite on cotton paper
Image Source: RaymondLemstra
#4 Personnage Fictionnel (2026) Oil on hanji mounted on wood panel
Image Source: RaymondLemstra
#5 Personnage Fictionnel (2026) Oil on hanji mounted on wood panel
Image Source: RaymondLemstra
#6 Personnage Fictionnel (2025) Graphite on cotton paper
Image Source: RaymondLemstra
#7 Personnage Fictionnel (2026) Oil on hanji mounted on wood panel
Image Source: RaymondLemstra
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