Slawn | Skeptasbtv

Slawn — Skeptasbtv

Slawn, born Olaolu Akeredolu-Ale in Lagos, Nigeria in 2000, is a London-based artist known for intersecting street art with Abstract Expressionist styles, drawing on his Yoruba heritage. He began painting during London's 2020 lockdown after moving to the city to study graphic design at Middlesex University, and held his debut exhibition at Truman Brewery in 2021. His rapid rise has included a 2022 Sotheby's auction debut and designing the statuette and set for the 2023 Brit Awards — becoming the youngest and first Nigerian-born artist to do so — followed by the 2024 FA Cup Trophy.

Slawn's work draws openly on the cartoon-pop lineage of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, filtered through his own Yoruba heritage and the visual noise of growing up online in Lagos and London. Skeptasbtv takes the grotesque, theatrical face that recurs throughout Slawn's practice — white-masked, black-eyed, mouth dripping crimson — and pushes it toward something closer to a horror-film clown than a portrait.

Available through Creed Gallery, Ascot, for collectors across Berkshire, Surrey, and London.

Unnumbered limited edition on paper
28 x 34 cm (sheet); 38 x 46 cm (framed)

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