Study for Picasso Draws Jay Z (2017 - ongoing)  

Graphite object on paper, 21.8 x 13.4 inches (55.3 x 34 cm)
Image courtesy the artist

Shirt started his studies for the idea in 2017, choosing specific figurative drawings he came across made by Picasso that to Shirt, struck him as resembling the likeness of Jay Z. Using Picasso’s original drawing as reference, Shirt then reproduces his own drawing with pencil, graphite and charcoal. Goblin, ghoul, a zombie with no conscience (2020) (pictured) references the Picasso drawing Study for ‘Head of a Woman (Fernande)’ from 1909. In Febuary of 2020, Shirt was able to go to the Picasso And Paper exhibition at Royal Academy of Arts in London, where over 300 rare and never-before-seen works on paper were shown that spanned 80 years of Picasso’s life. 

Mark