The Devil has all the best times

Enari Gallery is happy to present The Devil has all the best times, a solo exhibition by Tom Solty. This new body of works, created between May and August 2025, emerged from a recurring state of oscillation: moments of disorder followed by moments of tranquillity. This rhythm reflects the broader condition of our time, a “new age” shaped by both natural chaos and human intervention. To reflect on the world today means acknowledging the problems we create simply by existing, by breathing the same air that we have already altered. Yet these paintings are not only about sadness, guilt, or societal conflict. They also attempt to serve as reminders to hold on to the simple things in life, though simplicity itself has become elusive, dependent on where and how one is born into the world.
TOM SOLTY
GERMANY, B. 1993
Tom Solty was born in Aachen, Germany in 1992. He studied Illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Maastricht (NL), between 2012 and 2015. Later, in 2018, he moved to Lisbon, Portugal, to explore the field of contemporary painting and successfully completed his Masters of Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon in 2021. Ever since his studies, he has focused on figurative painting with a great interest in oil painting. Meanwhile, he lives and works between Berlin and Lisbon, having started his PhD program in painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon.
Tom Solty
Don't dream it's over, 2025 Oil on canvas
50 x 57 cm
19 3/4 x 22 1/2 in
TECHNIQUE

Through layered techniques, the paintings acquire a blurred, dreamlike quality, suspended between photographic memory and lived experience. Oil forms the foundation, while airbrush interventions and diluted layers alter the surface, evoking the aesthetics of video games and funfair imagery. This dialogue between tradition and experimentation, between oil and airbrush, reflects both the evolution of Solty's practice and the contemporary condition itself: a state where the familiar and the artificial, the restrained and the excessive, coexist in perpetual tension.
Tom Solty
Show me that you care, 2025 The title The Devil Has All the Best Times points to the paradox that what is deemed immoral or excessive often feels the most vibrant, tempting, and alive. It reflects the tension between duty and desire, restraint and indulgence. The works serve as visual bridges between imagination and reality, balancing natural phenomena with the artificial structures that continually pull us in.
EVERYDAY MOMENTS

Over the past two years, Solty has been transitioning from city life to the countryside, a move that has been a transformative experience for him. It required significant time and energy, but it has allowed him to reconnect with aspects of life that were once distant or overlooked. Hence, this shift has expanded his perspective and deepened his understanding of the ways we live today. Through his work, he documents these changes in perception, capturing everyday moments through the lens of his phone and translating them into paintings. This process acts as a personal diary where each piece is a reflection of the evolving relationship developed over time with his environment and correspondingly with himself.
Tom Solty
Show me the way and I still get lost, 2025 Oil on canvas
150 x 110 cm
59 x 43 1/4 in
Speed, sound, and light form underlying currents in this body of work, connecting ongoing research with painterly expression. The imagery evokes a sense of nostalgia, rooted in childhood and teenage memories, particularly the fantastical landscapes of computer games or amusement parks. As he delves into these themes, he is drawn to exaggeration and excess, particularly when examining the human impact on nature.
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