ORIGINS: Family & Legacy

This exhibition takes you on a journey through the intersections of art, family and legacy, focusing on 2 generations of artistic practice within a single family. Featuring South African artists Faith XLVII (Faith 47), Tyler B. Murphy and their son Keya Tama, ORIGINS: Family & Legacy reveals how the creative spirit can form an enduring thread connecting generations.

Faith, an established multi-disciplinary artist and a prominent figure in the global street art community, leads this narrative as a matriarchal force. Her work extends beyond public spaces, from iconic murals to sculpture, video installations, tapestries, and drawings. Tyler B. Murphy, a pioneer of the 90s South African graffiti scene, is a respected tattoo artist, sign writer, and muralist. Their contributions have paved the way for a new generation of artists, including their son, Keya Tama who is now a well established artist based in New York. Keya’s expansive studio practice and mural works in various countries unite a surreal world with personal allegories, expanding into abstracted modern folktales. 

The exhibition showcases their shared history, where Keya's upbringing was surrounded and influenced by the artistic communities and sub-cultures that Tyler and Faith were a part of over three decades. 

Along with an extensive collection of gallery-scale works from all three artists, which will be displayed in our Mezzanine Space, two new mural-scale canvas works will be added to the STRAAT collection in our main hall. The first of these two will be a solo work from Faith XLVII, and the second work will be a first of its kind for STRAAT, a father and son collaborative piece from Tyler and Keya.  

Additionally, on the occasion of this exhibition, STRAAT will release two risograph-printed books. The first is the collaborative book Alpha Omega featuring the art of Faith and Tyler, paired with writing from Faith and her mother Claire, adding yet another generational layer to the exhibition’s storytelling. The second book is an illustrative Book of Animals by Keya Tama, designed with the stylised aesthetic of linocut markmaking, inviting viewers to reflect on archetypal animal iconography. Both have been printed by the award-winning Dutch book maker Knust Press of Nijmegen. 

ORIGINS: Family & Legacy

Faith XLVII, Tyler B. Murphy, Keya Tama

Friday April 18th - Sunday June 8th, 2025

STRAAT Mezzanine Space