It’s the first full day of London Fashion Week: things are getting buzzy in the fashion world, but we’re out here vibing with a different sort of crowd today. Brooklyn-based painter and multimedia artist, Malik Roberts, is in London for the debut of his first solo exhibition, “The Double Up” in the D’Stassi Gallery in Shoreditch.
The red gallery walls are occupied with a collection of over 25 pieces made exclusively for the exhibition, including a sketched up hallway in the gallery and a Porsche parked outside the building. Roberts’ artworks are dark, raw and textured – drawing from art history and Black culture with beautiful shades of reds, yellows and blues layered on black canvases in a result that can be described as a Cubist-Prismatic art hybrid. The artist has been around the NYC art scene for a while now – his work has been seen across the world, he’s collabed with both Nike and adidas, and he’s got a piece that sits in the permanent art collection of the Vatican – but it’s his first solo moment here in Europe.
We met Roberts standing around his pieces, in a full denim look, gold chains and a fire forest camo hat with a “Daddy” logo on it in an orange gothic font. “The show’s called ‘The Double Up’, it’s about the masks that we wear physically, and the mask that we wear metaphorically,” he explains. “I wanted to use the balaclava, or shiesty [as we call it in the US] as a representation of looking through and peering through parts of people that they don’t really want to show and they don’t really want you to see.”
He adds: “Over in America, the shiesty has dangerous, crime, eerie connotations to it, so I wanted to use the feeling that this mask represents to show how sometimes you don’t have to wear a label that you don’t want to wear.”
We got Malik to answer some quick-fire questions for us; here’s what went down.
Who’s your favourite artist?
I’m my favourite artist. You want a different artist?
What music do you listen to in the studio?
I usually start off the day with jazz, something smooth to get my way into the work. Then, I might switch it up and go somewhere like neo-soul, something more musical, and when the sun goes down it’s Chief Keef and some gangsta sh*t to be honest, some drill, some hip-hop, southern sh*t, Future, a little bit of everything. It gets nasty at night.
Talk us through your fit?
Denim jacket and jeans are from Heretic Nine, loafers are Gucci, custom gold chains, the glasses I picked up yesterday, I don’t know what they are, and the cap [the camo cap that says ”Daddy“ on it], I picked it up in New York.
Favourite beauty product?
My Diptyque cologne, Tam Dao. Oh, and Youth To The People, I like their skin cleanser and oil.
Favourite sneaker of all time?
Adidas Stan Smiths.
Dream exhibition guest?
Ye. Kanye. If he was to show up to some sh*t like this, or something that I’ve done, I would lose my mind. He’s inspired so much of my work and he’s been so much a part of my journey.
Dream collab?
Louis Vuitton.
Favourite designer?
Yohji.
Star sign?
I’m a Sagitarrius.
What’s next for you?
We’re gonna be in LA – I’m designing some things with SpaceX, so we’re gonna go look at some rockets in October. And then we’re gonna be at Miami for Art Basel, and the next show is gonna be at SoHo in April.
Malik’s work will show at D’Stassi Gallery in Shoreditch until October 13th.
It’s the first full day of London Fashion Week: things are getting buzzy in the fashion world, but we’re out here vibing with a different sort of crowd today. Brooklyn-based painter and multimedia artist, Malik Roberts, is in London for the debut of his first solo exhibition, “The Double Up” in the D’Stassi Gallery in Shoreditch.
The red gallery walls are occupied with a collection of over 25 pieces made exclusively for the exhibition, including a sketched up hallway in the gallery and a Porsche parked outside the building. Roberts’ artworks are dark, raw and textured – drawing from art history and Black culture with beautiful shades of reds, yellows and blues layered on black canvases in a result that can be described as a Cubist-Prismatic art hybrid. The artist has been around the NYC art scene for a while now – his work has been seen across the world, he’s collabed with both Nike and adidas, and he’s got a piece that sits in the permanent art collection of the Vatican – but it’s his first solo moment here in Europe.
We met Roberts standing around his pieces, in a full denim look, gold chains and a fire forest camo hat with a “Daddy” logo on it in an orange gothic font. “The show’s called ‘The Double Up’, it’s about the masks that we wear physically, and the mask that we wear metaphorically,” he explains. “I wanted to use the balaclava, or shiesty [as we call it in the US] as a representation of looking through and peering through parts of people that they don’t really want to show and they don’t really want you to see.”
He adds: “Over in America, the shiesty has dangerous, crime, eerie connotations to it, so I wanted to use the feeling that this mask represents to show how sometimes you don’t have to wear a label that you don’t want to wear.”
We got Malik to answer some quick-fire questions for us; here’s what went down.
Who’s your favourite artist?
I’m my favourite artist. You want a different artist?
What music do you listen to in the studio?
I usually start off the day with jazz, something smooth to get my way into the work. Then, I might switch it up and go somewhere like neo-soul, something more musical, and when the sun goes down it’s Chief Keef and some gangsta sh*t to be honest, some drill, some hip-hop, southern sh*t, Future, a little bit of everything. It gets nasty at night.
Talk us through your fit?
Denim jacket and jeans are from Heretic Nine, loafers are Gucci, custom gold chains, the glasses I picked up yesterday, I don’t know what they are, and the cap [the camo cap that says ”Daddy“ on it], I picked it up in New York.
Favourite beauty product?
My Diptyque cologne, Tam Dao. Oh, and Youth To The People, I like their skin cleanser and oil.
Favourite sneaker of all time?
Adidas Stan Smiths.
Dream exhibition guest?
Ye. Kanye. If he was to show up to some sh*t like this, or something that I’ve done, I would lose my mind. He’s inspired so much of my work and he’s been so much a part of my journey.
Dream collab?
Louis Vuitton.
Favourite designer?
Yohji.
Star sign?
I’m a Sagitarrius.
What’s next for you?
We’re gonna be in LA – I’m designing some things with SpaceX, so we’re gonna go look at some rockets in October. And then we’re gonna be at Miami for Art Basel, and the next show is gonna be at SoHo in April.
Malik’s work will show at D’Stassi Gallery in Shoreditch until October 13th.