stuart semple signs his artworks NOT A NICHE MAN under new legal name, anish kapoor

stuart semple announces his name change to anish kapoor

In the latest chapter of their nearly decade-long rivalry, British artist Stuart Semple takes a bold new step by legally changing his name to Anish Kapoor in a playfully provocative response to the British sculptor’s exclusive rights to Vantablack, the infamous ‘world’s blackest black.’ In a newsletter titled I’ve Just Changed My Name, Semple—writing under the name Anish Kapoor—informed his followers of his name change stating, ‘Just to let you know, I legally changed my name to Anish Kapoor today. Hopefully, now I can get hold of that Vantablack and share it with you all. Love, Anish.’

His recent release called I’M NOT A NICHE MAN—a series of archival giclée prints hand-signed with his newly adopted name—will be available for 72 hours starting November 1, 2024. Boldly emblazoned with the words ‘I’m not a niche man. I’m Anish, man,’ this artwork takes the ongoing saga between the two artists to a new level of wry humor. This black text is crafted from Semple’s own Black 4.0 pigment, a deep matte black ink that counters Kapoor’s control over Vantablack, originally developed by Surrey NanoSystems for military and aerospace applications before Kapoor’s exclusive deal restricted it from the art world. A full-color copy of Semple’s official legal name change deed comes with every print, celebrating his ongoing satire on accessibility, self-identity, and the act of monopolizing a shade.

images courtesy of Stuart Semple, unless stated otherwise

How Vantablack Sparked an Art World Showdown

It was a quiet time between the two artists until one of them signed exclusive rights to a paint. In 2014, Surrey NanoSystems introduced Vantablack, dubbed the blackest shade of black as it could absorb 99.965% of visible light. The company originally developed it for military applications, namely satellite-borne blackbody calibration systems, but because of the limitations in how it was manufactured, they switched to spray-painted Vantablack coatings. This shade caught the eye of the sculptor Anish Kapoor, who had already produced a hole made of black pigment, so dark it looked like a void, as part of his Descent into Limbo (1992). It was a natural move for the artist to seek a similar shade, and he ended up finding it in Vantablack.

In 2016, Anish Kapoor managed to secure exclusive contract rights to the pigment so that only he could use it in the fields of painting and sculpture. Since then, the artist has been silent about how the paint is created and how he applies it to his body of work. The controversy of him being the artistic keeper of the shade spread out across the art industry. One of them stood up to him with his own sets of paint, and that artist was Stuart Semple. In 2021, he responded to Anish Kapoor’s rights to Vantablack by making his own paint named Blink. He describes it as the ‘blackest black ink,’ suitable for pen and ink work, calligraphy, paint markers, and brush pens. There’s a catch here: anyone can purchase and use Blink, except for Anish Kapoor himself.

a series of archival giclée prints hand-signed with Stuart Semple’s newly adopted name

On Standby for the british sculptor’s reply

Since 2021, there have been four generations or batches of Blink, now named Black (4.0). In fact, when users try to acquire the paint from Stuart Semple’s shop site Culture Hustle, there’s a note saying that the buyer confirmed they are not ‘Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor. To the best of your knowledge, information and belief, this material will not make it’s way into the hands of Anish Kapoor.’

Looking at the packaging design of the upgraded Black 4.0 of Stuart Semple, the logo seems to resemble the middle finger that Anish Kapoor dipped into the British artist’s World’s Pinkest Pink powdered paint. Even this shade of pink has the disclaimer that anyone who buys it should not be related to and associated with Anish Kapoor. The dubbed feud between the artists may reach their decade celebration in 2026, but before that, Stuart Semple pulls a surprise for Anish Kapoor by changing his name to his. All eyes are now on Anish Kapoor to see if he’ll respond to this stunt—and if their past exchanges are any indication, his reply will likely come in artistic form.

the print will be available for 72 hours starting November 1, 2024