Art of Mo’ Wax: Robert del Naja (3D)
Part of the appeal of a Mo’ Wax release, other than the music, is their amazing artwork, and the label became famous for their visually appealing packaging. This series will take a a brief look at some of the artists who worked with Mo’ Wax between 1992–2003.
Robert del Naja, also known as 3D, is a Bristol artist who has been active since the 1980s. He was a member of The Wild Bunch, a group of musicians including DJ Milo and Nellee Hooper, but later left and formed Massive Attack with bandmates Mushroom (Andrew Vowles) and Daddy G (Grant Marshall).
3D started his love affair with spray paint in the early 80s, when bands like The Clash would include stencils with their vinyl releases and fans would spray their logos on clothes and walls. As he developed his own style, 3D created his own stencils but they had a mixed reception, as he later recalled, “It was almost like poison in the graffiti world at the time to be using a stencil”.
In 1987 3D appeared in the graffiti book Spraycan Art, and in Bombin’, a documentary about graffiti and hip hop. The documentary featured scenes of 3D creating artwork, and a performance by The Wild Bunch. After The Wild Bunch broke up, Massive Attack were formed and in 1988 released their debut single, followed by the album Blue Lines in 1991.
Blue Lines influenced many, including a young James Lavelle, who told The Quietus, it “defined the beginning of Mo’ Wax. It was amongst other things a blueprint for where I went with my life.” A young Lavelle was also one of the many people watching Bombin’ when it first aired on Channel 4, and in 1991 he finally met 3D and they became close friends.
The two would eventually collaborate when Mo’ Wax used a 3D painting for 1994’s Headz compilation album. This was followed by Headz 2 in 1996, which again featured artwork by 3D, this time in two different colours as it was released in two parts, 2A and 2B.
Following the closure of Mo’ Wax, it was revealed Mo’ Wax had intended to produce a toy based on artwork by 3D in 2001, much like their toys based on Money Mark, and Futura’s pointman. The 3D toy was left unproduced, but when a video was created for UNKLE’s single Eye For An Eye in 2002 it used 3D’s paintings and also features figures inspired by his work.
3D has continued to work with James Lavelle, and provided vocals for Invasion on UNKLE’s 2003 album Never, Never Land, and Twilight on War Stories from 2007. Prior to working on War Stories, 3D had stepped away from painting for several years, and it was Lavelle who convinced him to start up again, when he was asked to create artwork for the project.
After creating 25 artworks over two months, nine were used for the War Stories album. These included artwork which would become the UNKLE skull logos which were used on tour merchandise for War Stories, and have continued to appear on UNKLE releases, including their 2019 album The Road: Part II / Lost Highway.
Outside of UNKLE and his own Massive Attack work, 3D’s art has rarely appeared on albums by anyone else, and he has also rarely exhibited his work. His first exhibition was held in 1989 at the Black Bull Gallery, followed by War Paint at Lazarides Gallery in 2008, which collected his work for UNKLE’s War Stories. In 2013 he held his first solo show Fire Sale, which was followed by a 400 page book in 2014, 3D and the art of Massive Attack, a retrospective of 3D’s work as a visual artists.
In 2020 3D released a new print to raise funds for the NHS, and donated a signed original artist proof of his War Stories print to be auctioned by War Child. 3D and Massive Attack have long supported War Child’s charity efforts, beginning in 1995 when a print by 3D was used on the back of their fundraising album Help. The album featured exclusive music by Massive Attack, and Portishead, among others, and raised money for children in the former Yugoslavia. That print was then made available for sale in 2021 in an edition of 200 to raise money to help children in Gaza.
Massive Attack last released new music in 2020, on their Eutopia EP, released as a series of videos featuring narration from academics on subjects such as the climate emergency, tax havens, and universal basic income. Outside of Massive Attack, this year 3D has been back in the studio and has produced Martina Topley-Bird’s Pure Heart EP, released in June, and has been teasing work with Nakhane Touré.
External Links
3D has two Instagram accounts, 3d__firesale and robert3delnaja.
Massive Attack official website
An interview in VNA Magazine with 3D discussing his artworks (2014)
An interview in Creative Review with 3D discussing his artworks (2013)
