Internationally exhibited painter Steve Joy is returning to his roots this month, preparing for his first solo exhibition in the region for decades at Velarde Gallery in Kingsbridge.

Joy, who was born in Plymouth and trained at Exeter College of Art and Chelsea, has spent the last 25 years working internationally. Despite a long list of solo shows, including the Sioux City Arts Museum in Iowa, the Bemis Centre for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska, and the Japan Foundation in Tokyo, he considers this new exhibition to be a significant moment.

“It’s the first one in a long time,” he said. “And in a gallery that really understands contemporary art. The ambitions here are high – it’s very exciting.”

Working in a rich tradition of abstraction, Joy's paintings are anything but simple. They draw on his own travels, his time in the Air Force, and an early fascination with the likes of Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse. But the turning point came after seeing an exhibition by Barnett Newman.

“These giant paintings, with a single stripe down the middle, just bowled me over,” he recalled.

Rather than focusing solely on colour or form, Joy aims to give his abstract work content – something with narrative, memory or even moral tension. “I wanted my work to be about something people could relate to – particularly my own quite working-class family.”

This personal commitment to content has led Joy into unexpected territory. “It’s not easy,” he said. “Especially in the age of the internet, when everyone is showing everything straight away. I’m still trying to find that spot where you can contribute something physically, spiritually.”

The title Forbidden Colours stems from Joy’s long-standing fascination with Japanese author Yukio Mishima, whose writing and life story deeply influenced the exhibition. Mishima, who committed ritual suicide after completing his final novel cycle, was obsessed with beauty, decay and the conflict between tradition and modernity.

“In kimono-making, certain colours were reserved for emperors or dynasties; they were literally forbidden,” Joy explained. “That sense of something beautiful, but restricted or lost, really struck a chord.”

The result is a body of work that asks the viewer to engage, not just observe. “I hope people will feel a connection to history, culture, literature – not just painting,” he said. “And if they only get a sense of beauty or refinement, I don’t mind that either. People will get what they can from it.”

Joy praised the efforts of the gallery to champion contemporary work.

Looking ahead, Joy has group shows planned in Iowa and Nebraska, and hopes to begin a new series of abstract paintings inspired by the odd, almost eerie pre-Renaissance portraits found in Devon’s stately homes.

“They’re so weird,” he laughed. “Again, that influence of the past coming into the present. It’s something I keep coming back to.”

The exhibition runs from Saturday, May 3 to Saturday, June 28, 2025.