Slawn and Opake are two artists who revel in controversy. In terms of theme and subject, their work exhibits more similarities than differences as they offer a juvenile, subversive interpretation of popular culture figures.
Opake’s creations come across as more intentional, while Slawn’s art conveys a sense of freedom and an almost indifferent attitude, energized by the use of spray paint and playful characters. This approach has positioned Slawn as a Warhol-like figure at only 24, with his designs appearing at events like the BRIT Awards, on the side of F1 cars, and during the FA Cup Final.
CLASH spoke with both artists following their joint exhibition ‘Cease and Desist’ to explore their collaboration, enduring friendship, the impact of taboo on their work, addiction, and Slawn's hesitance to identify himself as an artist.
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Can you both characterize your individual styles?
Opake: My style features very clean line work, leaning towards chaotic pop art centered on cartoon characters. It’s always about chaos, fundamentally. I suppose it reflects my own bizarre struggles with mental health.
Slawn: I’m quite similar, just not as precise with my lines.
You both tackle similar subject matter. What serves as your inspiration?
O: KAWS (laughs)
S: I take from everyone, really. Anyone who can grasp it can take it. It’s easy to label it as inspiration, but it’s essentially just stealing.
O: I stole to survive. I needed to eat because I had no money. Why alter the mindset now?
S: That’s the truth. We’ve just redirected that into a different medium.
How did this collaboration come to be?
S: We met at my studio and instantly connected. Within two weeks we were off and running. He’s just like me; neither of us likes to wait around.
O: We’re basically twins. We’ve mentioned before that our work is merely a byproduct of our friendship. The friendship itself is what matters most to both of us. I’ve collaborated before where it was solely about the art, but we’re incredibly similar people.
S: We box each other every morning.
O: That’s part of why our styles complement each other so well.
S: Plus, if I say to him, “Want to release this next week?” he’ll just reply, “Yeah, why not?”
Your exhibition Cease and Desist primarily delves into the theme of ‘taboo’. What does this concept mean to you?
S: Regarding the word taboo... I was speaking to someone about it recently. We’re quite candid about things. Everyone has their hidden struggles, but we choose to be open about how we perceive them, even if they’re considered taboo. Take the worst people in society – paedophiles, serial killers – the motivations behind their actions are taboo topics. If society could discuss them openly without judgement, perhaps these individuals wouldn't act on such impulses.
O: It's wild, but we initially started with our work centered around hentai. One of our first pieces was comic book panels with explicit content. I posted it on Instagram, and they took it down. If it had been an oil painting, there wouldn't have been any issues. What is it about the drawing style that renders it taboo? I don’t understand.
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Why did you choose hentai as a starting point?
O: I visited Slawn’s studio with a painting of Snoopy I wanted to gift him. He then asked me to create a piece featuring hentai girls. We illustrated it, and I hadn’t really experimented with that style before…
S: The painting turned out amazing.
O: Yeah, it was really impressive. We decided to explore that style further, evolving from there. We acknowledged that promoting this would be quite challenging.
S: So challenging, and that's the essence of taboo. We admired the paintings we had created, but couldn't openly express it.
O: Some of them are quite PG as well. Ultimately, it’s just a drawing. But that’s where it all began. We produced 70 canvases together in just two days. It was a fantastic experience to create so many pieces.
And what inspired the exhibition title Cease and Desist?
O: Initially, we were going to call it taboo, but we decided on Cease and Desist at the last minute. This title seemed fitting after creating 70 paintings of various cartoon characters and a Ferrari with numerous images slapped on. Given both of our backgrounds, receiving an email from Disney is the least of our worries.
You both seem to embody a sort of ‘fuck it’ mentality. What’s the source of that?
S: Well, he (Opake) is a former crack addict and I was a scammer. To scam, you need that mentality. I know it’s a negative thing, but applying that mentality to our art shifts everything. I’m willing to face consequences later
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Slawn and Opake are both artists who welcome controversy. When it comes to themes and subjects, they share more similarities than differences.