In a digital epoch where creative industries are perpetually evolving, artist Selwyn Senatori has no trouble trusting in his mixed heritage for inspiration. With old-school influences and approaches, Senatori prefers sketches, paint and canvas over modern design software.
Selwyn’s upbringing was split between Italy and the Netherlands, where he currently resides.
@SelwynSenatori
His days are filled by collaborating with some of the world’s top artistic and musical talents. When Senatori is not working on a specific piece, he is enjoying life with his wife and children. Naturally, his wife plays a prevalent role in the creative process.
While tending to several projects for the upcoming Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE) music festival, Selwyn set aside some time to speak with Playboy’s Gabriel Santiago. The two discussed Senatori’s origin story along with his vision, influences, muse, future paintings, working with David Guetta and more.
Playboy: Let’s start easy. What was growing up like?
Selwyn Senatori: I was born in Italy’s Lake District; Lago Maggiore. When I was about five-years old, we moved here to Amsterdam where I grew up, but we did go back and forth a bit.
Playboy: At what age and how did you first discover your artistic gift?
Selwyn Senatori: Let’s put it this way, when I was in school, most of the kids played soccer and I didn’t. I was drawing all the time. I’d say I was in preschool when I started drawing. Again, I wasn’t the soccer kind of guy; I was the drawing guy.
Playboy: Who or what has been your biggest inspiration?
Selwyn Senatori: When I was a teenager, every era had its own inspiration. Maybe inspiration comes from life itself. Especially, “la dolce vita,” or “the good life.” That might be obvious in my work but it’s the way it was. I grew up with very fashionable people. In Italy, everybody was dressed well and had a little black tie. There’s a lot of those influences that come back into my work. It’s all about style and beautiful things in life. Again, the good life. That doesn’t mean I need the latest Lamborghini or a $50 million yacht. No, the good life is enjoying the daily things. The good life can be reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. I like to express that throughout my paintings. That’s very much an inspiration for me.
Playboy: Can you talk me through your creative process?
Selwyn Senatori: I start observing everything I see and notice around me. I am continuously on. My mind is never relaxed. I look and I observe and I watch and I feel and I taste. All of these things, I put into my reference storage inside my head and I start drawing. Every day, I draw. I have these little notebooks that I have been filling up with drawings for years. Whether I’m on an airplane or sitting at a bar, I just take out my notebook and start drawing people or situations. And that’s the start of a painting. The drawing is always the initial start of the painting.
Playboy: I’m sure it varies, but how much time do you invest in one painting?
Selwyn Senatori: That depends a lot on the drying time. I often use acrylic paint if I don’t have too much time. I also have multiple hair dryers here and people will use them to help me dry paintings. I can make a painting in an hour or I can make a painting in three weeks. It’s usually somewhere within that time range.
Playboy: What are some of your personal favorite pieces you’ve created?
Selwyn Senatori: As an artist, it’s always the last painting that goes out the door. The last one you finish that leaves the studio and goes up to the gallery, that is my favorite piece because it’s usually a very relevant piece. It says something about me at that time or what is happening. I have some evergreens that I love. I did a beautiful mural in Hell’s Kitchen, New York that I really love. It’s so big and everybody can see it. Also, I love the drawings that I make. They are very fine and small in contrast to the things that I paint.
Playboy: What is it about the female figure that makes for captivating artwork?
Selwyn Senatori: I have always been fascinated with organic round forms or the feminine figure in general. It is the ultimate form of love. The male is beautiful as well, but the figure is very graphical or square. To draw a beautiful body or female form is like creating the first Lamborghini or Ferrari. As an artist, I have my own muse with the most beautiful body to paint.
Playboy: Tell me more about your muse.
Selwyn Senatori: I married her! She is captivating and beautiful. Her name is Irene. She’s way taller than I am, which is nice, but I make up for it with my ego. She truly inspires me a lot.
Playboy: Switching gears, tell me about the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards in London with David Guetta?
Selwyn Senatori: I made the album cover for Guetta, French Montana and Charli XCX. They did the show on the MTV Video Music Awards, so we created the entire stage setting. We made a beautiful DJ booth and David did the whole show. We had dancers with masks that we made from all my characters. I created a whole special world around them. It literally came to life with music and all. It was eight-dimensional!
Playboy: You are half Dutch and half Italian. Are those elements prevalent in your work?
Selwyn Senatori: The Italian part draws from “the good life” and fine style aspects. I think that resonates all through my work. There’s always a ‘coffee element.’ There’s always a ‘little-black-tie element.’ It has a little 1960s glamour, also. There’s some old Roger Moore and Tony Curtis in my work. There’s Frank Sinatra in there. It has a little bit of a mobster side which is edgy and I like that.
The Amsterdam part is more business driven. Amsterdam is very cultural but also very on top of business. These are the two mixtures you’ll find in my work. Maybe also a little bit of the naughtiness. Amsterdam has a little naughty side—think Vegas but more extreme.
Playboy: What is an upcoming project of yours that Playboy readers should look out for?
Selwyn Senatori: There are so many things happening. Right now, we are in the midst of ADE. We’ll be painting with all the great DJs like every other year there. We’re also throwing some parties. There’s a nice party that we’re doing with the great-great grandson of Pablo Picasso: Florian Picasso. We also have the art fair in March. There are a thousand things. Check out my Instagram (@SelwynSenatori)!
Playboy: Lastly, what’s “a day in the life of Selwyn Senatori” like?
Selwyn Senatori: First thing, I hit the coffee with my eyes closed. I have breakfast somewhere in a nice little place at the city centre. Then, I have another coffee. I start drawing until about 11 a.m. I paint for an hour, more or less. Next, I go out to lunch and meet people, talk business over. From there, I’ll go back to the studio and paint some more. Usually, a weird party will pop up and I attend. Then, we see what happens from there. The next morning, I take the kids to school. They are also my life—kids and wife!
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