In 2013, I stumbled upon the work of an artist named BlueTheGreat on Instagram via the brilliant @thebugs87’s page. I was instantly transfixed by Blue’s striking art, which from first glance consisted of stylistically “mummified” paintings and assorted drawings.
A year later, I visited the apartment of the brilliant human and marketing genius named Modi Oyewole in my hometown of Portland, Oregon, and felt pleasantly overwhelmed by the magnitude of Blue’s work—his signature mummy wrap in greyscale spanned two massive walls within Modi’s space. It was huge and bold and beautiful to see his work in person, offline. (Funny thing is, as I was walking out from Blue’s studio after conducting the interview you’re about to read once you make it through this long-ass intro, I ran into Modi. Life, man.)