ASPENCROW at Blackwater Gallery

Lithuanian born Edgar Askelovic, also known as 'Aspencrow' is a hyper realistic sculptor based in Germany.

Askelovic specialises in creating realistic sculptures crafted from silicone, fibreglass, and resin. His main focus, the artist says is "creating sculptures of celebrities with strong characters and alluring faces as I find these very interesting to sculpt"

When asked, Askelovic describes himself as a "controversial hyperrealistic interpretation sculptor". Working in the medium of hyperrealism for over 10 years, before that his focus was in kinetic installations and minimalist drawing. He notes his first memories of his parents giving him squared paper and pencils as a child, encouraging him to think about the shapes of the human body and not just draw stick figures.

For Rhianna's 30th Birthday, Askelovic created a special sculpture to present to the artist. The Rhianna sculpture is presented as a nude model covered in body paint. Those with a keen eye will note that the style of the body paint and football helmet is a nod to Basquiat's famous AARON helmet.

Described as a 'symbiosis of Rhianna and Basquiat' Askelovic took the tattoos on Rhianna's body and reinterpreted them in a Basquiat Style. This isn't the first time that Rhianna and Basquiat have been linked either, the album art for the multi-platinum record “ANTI” features a crown not unlike the one in Basquiat’s SAMO tag, as well as photos of Rihanna with her hair styled similarly to Basquiat’s.