Contemporary abstract artist Gina Keatley has announced Motto Motto, a new five-painting acrylic-on-canvas series developed between New York City and Akō, Japan. The work arrives as Keatley completes the ownership transition of Bushwick Gallery and expands Salt Road Studio, an artist-led platform in Akō focused on contemporary art, publishing, international exchange and future residency programming.
The series takes its name from the Japanese word motto, meaning "more." Repeated as motto motto, the phrase becomes both an instruction and a rhythm: a commitment to continue beyond the moment when a painting first appears resolved. The five works—More Depth, More Motion, More Expanse, More Resonance and More Cadence—each measure 48 by 36 inches. Across blush, cream, sand, smoke and pale earth tones, Keatley layers acrylic, scrapes, veils, interrupts and rebuilds the surface. Faint flashes of mandarin orange, introduced through her raindrop technique, bring energy to the quieter palette while darker marks and fragments remain visible beneath.
"Motto Motto is about pushing past the first point where a painting feels finished," Keatley says. "It is about taking more from the process. More time, more movement, more pressure, more room to see what the work can become."
Rather than illustrating Japan, the series treats movement between New York and Akō as a working condition. Distance, atmosphere and cultural experience enter the paintings through process instead of literal imagery. Accumulation, revision and return become the shared structure connecting the five canvases.
That geographic shift is also institutional. After founding and directing Bushwick Gallery in Brooklyn, Keatley is completing the gallery's ownership transition while turning greater attention toward Salt Road Studio. The Akō-based initiative connects her New York practice with the Seto Inland Sea region and is being developed to support contemporary art, artist-led publishing, international exchange and future residency programming.
The result is a body of work that feels weathered and newly made at once: soft in palette, yet insistent in presence. Each painting carries its own cadence while remaining part of a shared visual language built through touch, interruption and persistence. Motto Motto marks a continued refinement of Keatley's abstract practice and a transition toward a broader international framework for her work.
The series and press images can be viewed at https://untamedmoderns.com/gina-keatley-motto-motto-series/. Untamed Moderns, an independent contemporary art platform presenting Keatley's work and projects, publishes new bodies of work and artist-led initiatives, including Salt Road Studio. More information is available at https://untamedmoderns.com.
The announcement matters because it signals a structural shift in Keatley's career: the simultaneous launch of a major body of work, the relinquishment of a gallery she founded and the expansion of an international platform. For artists navigating between markets and cultures, Motto Motto offers a model of how geographic distance can become a generative force rather than a limitation. It also highlights the growing role of artist-led initiatives like Salt Road Studio in fostering cross-cultural dialogue and sustainable creative ecosystems. As Keatley moves between New York and Akō, her work and institutional efforts suggest a future where artistic practice and international exchange are inseparable.
