SHAQUILLE-AARON
KEITH

Words
KEMISO WESSIE

Photography
ASSANTE CHIWESHE

I meet Shaquille-Aaron Keith at Cape Town’s Eclectica Contemporary gallery a week before he’s set to return home to London. “Sorry I’m late, I did a 7k this morning, I have to do a run to start my day,” he exclaims, arriving in a suit, his smile is bright and disarming. Just a week after the 2024 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, his studio has been packed up, leaving only ‘The Artist Burnout’ hanging on the wall behind him. Before our meeting, I asked him about the places in the city where he feels the most comfortable and inspired. While the gallery, where he's signed, might have a bit of bias, standing in this space, it’s easy to see why it holds such a special place for him. 

Every Child’s Last Sin, 2021

“I've always known art and art has always known me, the separation of us two is equivalent to the separation of God and heaven, one can't exist without the other”

This multi-hyphenate artist and poet flexes his polymathic perspective in his deeply researched and energetic dissections of Blackness, culture, Britain, memory and emotion. His contemplative “afro-surrealist” paintings, complemented by long-form prose, create a powerful commentary on personal and societal issues. Through his eloquent expression of truths, he endeavours for understanding and unity across racial divides.

Keith’s foray into the South African art scene began in Paris in 2022 at the AKAA art fair he attended with a friend. “The one booth my friend doesn’t go into is the one that caught my attention. I saw three paintings by Nedia Were and I thought, ‘wow this guy’s good,’” Keith recalls. The booth was that of Eclectica Contemporary and its assistant curator Marli Odendaal introduced him to the gallery’s director Shamiela Tyer. This meeting led to an invitation to exhibit with the gallery at the 2023 Investec Cape Town Art Fair and the FNB Art Joburg fair. Keith spent most of 2023 and early 2024 in Cape Town, where he had the chance to collaborate with Were on the painting ‘The Lost Dreamer’.

Home Is Where The Heart Is, 2021

The class segregation and gentrification of the city, as well as its can-do spirit, reminds Keith of his native South East London. “It’s the ambition of the young people. I think in both places you can make yourself,” he adulates. Reflecting on home, he adds: “I don't know what word to use other than peak! It’s very electric. Black people have definitely made the culture of South London.” 


His upbringing set him up for greatness. The youngest of seven, Keith received his first art-kit from his mother, who actively encouraged her children to pursue their passions, whether it was pottery, crotchet, cartoon drawing or playing the trumpet. “I've always known art and art has always known me, the separation of us two is equivalent to the separation of God and heaven, one can't exist without the other,” he asserts. Keith’s mother took up art classes in her retirement due to lupus and had a way with thrifting that meant she never let the family’s limited financial means stand in their way. “She always had a creative flair, she used to design clothes for my action figures… [and] never spent a bad penny.”

Keith studied illustration and visual communication at the University of Westminster and made a name for himself in the late 2010s as one-quarter of the popular YouTube streetwear show, PAQ. The show amassed millions of views and almost as many subscribers before wrapping in 2020. Since then, he’s flourished in the art world thanks to works such as ‘Every Child’s First Sin’ and ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is (Takes It In Blood)’, which draw on his childhood and Trinidadian heritage. Employing animation-style illustrations and pop culture references, Keith’s work swirls with questions around existence, mysticism, intersectionality and culture.

Let’s Stay Together, 2023

We leave Eclectica Contemporary and head for the Cape Metrorail. Keith is steely as we’re sized up for a robbery by two other passengers awaiting the train at Mowbray Station. Once they eventually walk away, we exhale in relief and his inviting calm returns as we board the train. The Indian Ocean stretches out majestically and follows us to St James Beach and Tidal Pool. As Keith leads the way to “the perfect spot” to take photos, we meander through archways, tunnels and sands, arriving at an opening of a short chain link fence blocking an old bowling green. “Let’s go!” Keith says sneakily to persuade us to follow, a childlike sense of wonder shining through in his personality, as in his work. 


We discuss his creative process and Keith’s emphasis on titles, a technique he adopted from studying Tupac Shakur. For him, the title serves as the cornerstone, with both the artwork and poem evolving organically around it. “They're both built together brick by brick,” he says, reflecting on years of sharing his verses, often accompanied by illustrations in his notebooks that will one day become a poetry book.

The Artist Burnout, 2024

There is no denying that this young artist has found inspiration in Cape Town, his interest in the history and social construct of the country coming from a place of warming familiarity. “You could put Black people anywhere in the world and they’ll end up doing the same thing, just with different accents,” he jokes. Despite the ending of apartheid three decades prior, tensions linger and echo loudly in Cape Town. Acknowledging the dichotomy of his race and British accent in the context of the city, he says: “They say, ‘You're Black, but you're [different].’ I'm still Black.” Keith is cautious in his desire to explore and interrogate these nuanced views of race in his future works but remains rooted in a belief in the power of collective action. “I want to go back to London and then come back here because I don't fully understand how Cape Town has affected my eye and my mind and I don't know what it looks like on canvas yet. But I'm looking forward to exploring it.” 

Back in London now, Keith has just enjoyed his 1-54 London debut with Eclectica. With these new works, he hopes to foster a sense of community by drawing on the endurance of Africans and the diaspora. Simple yet profound, these are beloved dishes crafted from modest ingredients that tell a story of resilience. “It’s about making the little feel like a lot.”

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