Yesterday Skepta unveiled his latest artwork, ‘The Window,’ a painting of a shirtless man perched on a window frame in front of a tree and wooden boat. According to an Instagram post by the rapper, the piece was inspired by the entrapment experienced by office workers during COVID-19 (Apparently he didn’t get the memo that the majority of us were working from home at that time.) But tbf, the theme is culturally apropos given that Severance and Lumon’s below-ground offices are dominating pop culture atm.
Skepta took to Instagram to explain the process behind the work; “Finally finished 🥹😭 during COVID lockdown 2020, I once had a thought about all the people working isolated in offices without windows and started this new oil paint piece called “The Window.” 5 years later it’s complete, it’s changed and adapted over the years but I’m officially done. Took a few days for me to make the window frame, sawing and staining it but I’m happy with how it’s turned out so it has been worth the work. I will be exhibiting it soon for you all to see up close. Another one.”
5 years might seem like a long time to complete a painting, but in an interview with auction house Sotheby's a few years back, Skepta expressed admiration for the time and patience that goes into the medium. “I have gained a massive appreciation of the emotion, energy and creativity of artists, many of whom sit for hours at a time,” he said.
And it’s not the first time Skepta flexed his brush skills. The rapper got into painting during lockdown, when he painted a Lagos marketplace in “Mama goes to market”— an expression of his frustration that he might not be able to take his daughter there due to travel restrictions. He is inspired by the likes of Edvard Munch’s The Scream, as well as the artwork for albums by Tupac Shakur, Pink Floyd and Queen. “‘Good’ and ‘bad’ art is always gonna be subjective. But for me it's about that beautiful thing of being able to look at a picture and feeling an emotion. If I look at an art piece and feel something, I fall in love with it – I’m interested in how and what it’s making me feel,” he told Sotheby’s of his outlook.
Images via Skepta's IG
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