For many reasons, it’s pretty incredible to see Grime MCs as the subjects of art – let alone in impressionistic oil paintings – reimagined as historic British noblemen and officers. Well this is what artist, Reuben Dangoor, has done. Skepta, Stormzy, D Double E and Dizzee Rascal are all the stars of Dangoor’s The Legends of the Scene series, displayed at Tate Britain this week.
“Love the fact that garage and grime are finally getting the love it deserves. Felt like I wanted to honour some of the legends of the scene in a historical way,” writes Dangoor on his website.
D Double E can be seen as a military officer, Stormzy chills in a cosy old-English living room with a portrait of Wiley in the background and Skepta straddles a horse, carrying the British flag – the series shows our favourite Grime rappers in a pretty awesome new light.
These paintings will be displayed as part of Tate Britain’s Late Night series, which focuses on “celebrity” – beginning the show with historic royalty and ending with YouTube stars. Curated by 15 to 25-year-olds from the Tate Collective London, the event will take a look at the cult of celebrity through music, art and talks. Live music from odd-pop trio Joey Fourr and DJs from Reprezent Radio will set the underground scene of the show.
Late at Tate Britain: Celebrity is on Friday 4 December.
