Lio Malca and Doriano Navarra will present The Night, a solo exhibition featuring the works of contemporary artist Renk. Marking his first solo show in New York City, the exhibition opens on Thursday, May 8th at 60 White in Tribeca.
This exhibition will unveil a collection of new and recent works that unfold as a poetic meditation on the transition from day to night. Born in Rennes, France, Renk (b. 1987) began his artistic journey in graffiti before transitioning to canvas in 2011. Renk’s atmospheric colorscapes, built up through successive layers of spray-painted tag, draw parallels to the bold color field paintings of mid-20th century abstract painting, creating a striking fusion of street art and fine art traditions.

Influenced by his early street art experiences and the atmospheric qualities of abstract expressionism from the 1940s and 1950s, Renk’s work captures the fleeting beauty of sky and light to create large-scale canvases that invite the viewer into a space of contemplation and emotional response. Inspired by leaders of the movement like Mark Rothko, Pierre Soulages, and Cy Twombly, Renk aspires to refine one single aesthetic for the rest of his life, keeping his tag at the center of his creations.
“I don’t paint what I see, but what I feel. I add touches of color where I see them. It’s all about spontaneity.”
The Night, a mesmerizing collection of large-scale paintings ranging up to 300 x 200 cm (118 x 78 inches), explores Renk’s obsession with the motif of the sky — an obsession he attributes to a transformative visit to Ras Sheitan in Egypt’s Sinai Desert.
I stayed there during the months of August and September. There were shooting stars every night, an enchanting rocky landscape, and crystal-clear waters. That was a transcendent experience for me. When I returned, I started painting the sky, and I never let go of that obsession.
Renk.
Renk’s travels have continued to shape his artistic vision. He has visited Tulum twice, where he was deeply moved by the closeness to the stars and the breathtaking landscapes. The unique atmosphere of Tulum further reinforced his fascination with celestial elements, which continues to inform his evolving work.
Renk continues his practice of layering color in varying sizes and shades, creating ethereal compositions where form and meaning dissolve into pure movement. The ample canvases, many on natural linen, maintain an organic, raw quality that enhances the sensation of vast openness, while Renk’s signature gesture—his iconic tag—becomes almost imperceptible, merging with the misty expanses of his painted atmospheres. The works hover between figuration and abstraction, inviting introspection and an emotional response to the interplay of color and texture.
His use of spray paint—a nod to his graffiti roots—merges seamlessly with a refined, painterly approach, resulting in ambient works that hover between abstraction and realism. As they move through the space, viewers will be enveloped in a world of deep blues, muted grays, and luminous highlights that evoke the quiet solitude and infinite depth of the nocturnal sky.
“Renk’s ability to transform the essence of graffiti from the streets of cities like Paris and New York, into immersive and dreamlike landscapes offers viewers an experience that is personal, universal, timeless and extraordinary.”
Lio Malca
Renk, The Night, May 8th – August 15th, 2025,
60 White
Reception: Thursday, May 8th, 6PM – Late
About the artist

Born as Walig Nicolet in Rennes, France (b. 1987), Renk began tagging in the year 2000 with the blaze 100REMOR after seeing a TV report about graffiti. A few years later, he met several taggers and graffiti enthusiasts during his training in communications in Bagnolet. He then changed his name to Renkar, before choosing Renk in 2007, which became his artist name. Starting 2011, following a revelation during a trip to the Sinai desert in Egypt, Renk has fully dedicated himself to paintings on canvas. “One evening,
while watching the sunset, Walig had an epiphanic moment. The sky and the colors seemed to speak to him. The message was clear and concise: ‘painting will be your whole life’ (David Rosenberg, Renk, Éditions Skira, 2021).” Renk lives and works in Paris, France.
About 60 White
60 White, Lio Malca’s multistory space, was originally built in 1869 and was reimagined by New York–based design firm studioMDA. The space is an important addition to Malca’s already existing global artistic ecosystem, with stops around the globe such as Fundacion La Nave Salinas in Ibiza, Spain; Casa Malca hotel in Tulum, Mexico; and The Art Lodge artist residency in Sian Ka’an, Mexico. Malca’s exhibition space will be flexible and ever evolving, hosting exhibitions of emerging and established artists, historical shows of artists from Malca’s own collection, and unique artist projects and experiential performances, all open to the public.