The Shoes (Lords of the Underground) 2016
Artist: Mark Drew
Title: The Shoes (Lords of the Underground)
Year: 2016
Medium: Screenprint in colours on wove paper
Sheet Size: 29.8 × 41.9 cm (11 3/4 × 16 1/2 in)
Edition: 100 — signed and numbered in pencil along lower edge
Frame: Unframed
Type: Limited edition screenprint
Description:
The Shoes (Lords of the Underground) (2016) is an early and particularly rare work from Mark Drew's celebrated body of prints — produced in an edition of just 100, half the size of his more recent editions, and referencing one of hip-hop's most distinctive and underappreciated acts. Lords of the Underground — the Newark, New Jersey trio whose 1993 debut Here Come the Lords is a cornerstone of the golden era of East Coast rap — are invoked through their most famous song, with Drew's characteristic method of transplanting hip-hop's verbal and cultural energy into the graphic universe of Charles Schulz's Peanuts.
The title structure — The Shoes (Lords of the Underground) — is classic Drew: the parenthetical attribution is both a citation and a kind of reverence, a credit where credit is due, the artist acknowledging the source of the language and the culture he is repurposing. The Peanuts visual framework — with its round-headed, big-eyed children navigating a world of gentle suburban bewilderment — becomes, in Drew's hands, a space where the specificity of hip-hop history can land with unexpected force. The gap between the two visual and cultural registers is the work: what happens when the language of Newark's underground rap scene is placed in the mouths of Charlie Brown and Snoopy is simultaneously absurd, affectionate, and illuminating about both.
At an edition of 100 — among the smallest of Drew's published works — The Shoes (Lords of the Underground) represents one of the rarest opportunities to acquire an early impression from a body of work that has grown steadily in critical and market recognition since 2016. Screenprint in colours on wove paper, signed and numbered in pencil along the lower edge.
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FAQ
Is this an original Mark Drew print?
Yes — an original screenprint in colours on wove paper, signed and numbered by the artist from an edition of 100.
What is the edition size?
100 impressions — one of the smallest editions in Mark Drew's published catalogue, making this among his rarest works.
What is the reference in this work?
Lords of the Underground were a Newark, New Jersey hip-hop trio whose 1993 debut Here Come the Lords is a celebrated entry in the golden era of East Coast rap. Drew references their work within the Peanuts visual universe.
How does this work relate to Drew's other prints?
The Shoes shares the same format and paper as They Say Rap's Changed (2020) and Ski Mask Way (2024) — but with an edition of just 100, it is significantly rarer than either. It represents an early moment in Drew's development of the method that would define his international reputation.
Is the work framed?
Please contact us for framing options.
Do you ship internationally?
Yes — worldwide, with museum-grade flat packaging, full insurance, and shipment tracking.
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