Canadian artist Tim Okamura investigates identity, the urban environment and cultural iconography through a unique method of painting – one that combines an essentially ‘realist’ approach to the figure with collage, spray paint and mixed media.
Born in Alberta and now based in New York, Okamura fuses the rawness and urgency of street art with a traditional form of story-telling through portraiture, infused with contemporary motifs.
The Fight Club (source) is a large-scale oil and mixed-media painting, featuring realistic figures combined with spray paint and collage elements. Measuring 112 x 130 inches, the artwork explores themes of urban identity and strength, highlighting boxing as a metaphor.
Okamura’s works are sought after by collectors and often included in Hollywood movies, such as Spike Lee’s latest 2025 film Highest2Lowest, featuring Denzil Washington. His portrait of Toni Morrison on the wall behind Washington in this scene featured on Okamura’s Instagram was also on the cover of Time. (Cycle through all the images in this Instagram post here)
Tim Okamura earned a B.F.A. with Distinction at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary before moving to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts in 1991. After graduating with an M.F.A. in Illustration as Visual Journalism, Okamura moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he continues to live and work.
Okamura – a recipient of the 2004 Fellowship in Painting from the New York Foundation for the Arts – has exhibited extensively in galleries throughout the world, including the U.S., Canada, Italy, Japan, Ecuador and Turkey, and has been selected nine times to appear in the prestigious BP Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England.
Above: Time for our voices to be heard, now more than ever! “Loud + Clear”
Tim Okamura’s Instagram, here.
Tim Okamura at Peter Robertson Gallery in Edmonton (his birth city), here.
A note about Lighthouse Fire, top of post: Lighthouse Fire is part of Okamura’s #SupportSystem series “about the importance of friendships as a crucial means of support in navigating the challenges in contemporary life. Though the lighthouse – or systemic guidance structure – has failed, the support of close friends helps us remain steadfast.”
This is No. 72 in 150 Artists, an ongoing series on Canadian artists you should know.
Discover more from Canadian Art Junkie
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
As a traditional sacred iconographer, I find Tim Okamura’s redefinition of ‘cultural iconography’ absolutely fascinating. While my work focuses on ancient techniques like egg tempera and gold leaf to depict the divine, Okamura uses spray paint and collage to capture the ‘divine’ strength within the urban human experience. It’s a powerful reminder that the human need for ‘icons’—images that carry deep symbolic weight—remains universal, whether expressed through tradition or street art. Thank you for this insightful profile.
Thank you so much for that enlightening and also fascinating commentary. Your work is beautiful and having looked through your site, I understand why Okamura’s work was of such interest to you. This is one of the things I love most about art . . . the never ending connections between works and between artists. So appreciated.
Fabulous.
Powerful.
Good word for his work, thanks.