Dotmaster x Lemn Sissay: Natural Mystic,

2025,

Footnotes

"Meeting Lemn, we talked about family, music, nationality, and lots more. Bob Marley's name came up with a lot with a mutual love. We're of similar age, and turn of phrase. So I made a picture that looked like a reggae sound system poster, from our old Hackney daze. With a Natural Mystic Lyrics blowing in the air. Don't ask me why?"
- Dotmaster

Dotmaster is a London‑based street and multimedia artist who emerged in the early 1990s and is known for his sharply detailed stencils, half‑tone effects and large‑scale public works that fuse irony, street culture and pop‑iconography. Originally part of the new‑media art collective C6 org, he evolved to work under the alias Dotmasters and has been active worldwide. With a typically British sense of humour and a motto — "There is NO subculture ONLY subversion" — Dotmasters plays with consumer culture, media imagery and the unexpected in public spaces. His work has appeared at the Nuart Festival (Norway), in the Oscar‑nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, and in major gallery and public venues across Europe.

Lemn Sissay is a British poet, playwright and broadcaster whose work draws deeply on his childhood in the care system and his search for identity. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, served as Chancellor of University of Manchester from 2015 to 2022, and has been awarded an OBE for services to literature and charity. His poems and plays explore belonging, resilience and voice, and his work extends from books and theatre to public‑art installations and broadcasting.

Provenance:
Donated directly by the artists to In Place of War for this sale.
All proceeds from the sale of this Lot will go to the charity In Place Of War, which is a global organisation that uses creativity in places of conflict as a tool for positive change.

MUSIC SHAPED is a project from non-profit organisation In Place of War that pairs musical and cultural icons with exceptional visual artists to create works reflecting how music has influenced their lives. The collaboration begins with a recorded conversation between the visual artist and musician, and results in the creation of a brand new artwork reflecting their conversations and creative journeys.

In Place of War is a UK-based, global organisation that uses artistic creativity in places impacted by conflict and climate change as a tool for positive change. In Place of War supports grassroots change-makers in music, theatre and visual art, to transform cultures of violence and suffering into hope, opportunity and freedom. Starting as a research project at the University of Manchester in 2004, initial research findings spurred practical projects and programming. Twenty years later, In Place of War works with a change-maker network of 130 creative organisations across 30 countries, all making lasting change in their communities. Artist ambassadors and fellow supporters include Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Martin Aitkens, Ed O'Brien, Peter Hook, Laurie Anderson and Nitin Sawhney.

Proceeds from the sale of MUSIC SHAPED artworks will support In Place of War's #HackMusic Programme, which provides critical catalyst funding to support the development of essential life-changing music projects with indigenous communities; LGBTQI+ artists; artists in conflict zones; and artists responding to the climate crisis.

For more information please visit: https://www.inplaceofwar.net/