As one of the most important names in UK Culture, Skepta has always been known for being out of the box and being the master of many different trades – be in it music, fashion or so on. It should come as no surprise then that art is his next foray.
The musical titan will help curate a Sotheby’s auction this month in a called Contemporary Curated. The rapper has selected paintings from artists such as Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Frank Bowling to be included, as well as very own piece of work.
Titled Mama Goes To Market, Skepta’s first and only painting is that of a group of Nigerian women grocery shopping, including one with her baby strapped to her back.
Speaking to Financial Times on the piece, he said, “I guess I was just so used to expressing myself all the time, every two days, out doing a show somewhere new. So I just ordered the oil paints and the canvas [on Amazon].”
Lisa Stevenson, Sothebys head of curated sales said, “One nice thing about the Curated sale is that it’s a very accessible sale… and we’re seeing the boundaries between different disciplines being blurred; we’re seeing that a lot of younger audiences can come in. It’s culturally relevant.”