Brooklyn Artist Malik Roberts Debuts In London With ‘The Double Up’ Exhibition

Celebrated Brooklyn-born-and-based painter and mixed-media artist, Malik Roberts, made his outstanding London debut in a solo show, ‘The Double Up’ exhibiting all new works at Hoxton’s D’Stassi Art for six weeks from September 13th – October 25th 2024.

Off the back of the success of his latest homecoming show “To Suffer a Lick”, which debuted in New York before travelling cross-coast to LA, as well as a recent sell-out show in Athens, Greece; Roberts builds on his endeavour to both distil and reveal the liminal essence that characterises black culture. This new body of work took a closer look at outward identity and the duality of power and fragility in the act of concealment. Taking the very palpable symbol of the balaclava, a clothing item with myriad connotations increasingly adopted into popular culture, Roberts delves deeper into the psyche of his subjects, paradoxically revealing the aspects of being his protagonist feels necessary to mask, while actively highlighting the features they wish to acknowledge, even celebrate. 

Ruminating on the theme of the exhibit, Roberts explains: ‘The Double Up,’ I wanted to explore the more complex layers of identity, representing the societal and personal facades that people wear, both to protect and to obscure, examining both the seen and the unseen. Through these portraits, I hope to challenge the viewer to look beyond the masks, to confront the complexities of identity, and to understand the nuanced ways we present ourselves in a world that often misinterprets and labels us.”