World’s “Mattest and Flattest” Black Paint is Now Available for All Worldwide

Stuart Semple Blackest Paint

Image via Alden Jaakola

The battle for the blackest black rages on. In one corner, you have Vantablack, touted as the blackest black substance in existence. And in the other, artists who want access to Vantablack in order to create the blackest paint. Unfortunately, when British artist Anish Kapoor co-opted exclusive rights to the pigment, many an artistic dream was dashed. That is, until fellow Brit Stuart Semple joined the fray.

Semple struck back, creating a collection of colors that Kapoor is banned from purchasing. This ranges from the “world's pinkest pink” and “greenest green” to his pièce de résistance, Black 2.0. This affordably priced (150 ml costs about $15) acrylic paint is black cherry scented and held together with Semple's heavy duty Super Base, which binds the pigment.

To buy what is hailed as “the most pigmented, flattest, mattest, black acrylic paint in the world” clients are actually asked to certify that “you 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 its way into the hands of Anish Kapoor.”

Cheekiness aside, Semple admits that while Black 2.0 isn't the blackest black in the world, it will give the black hole effect you're after and ships worldwide. And just to get in one last shot, “it is however a better black than the blackest black in the world as it is actually usable by artists.”

A quick search for #SharetheBlack on Instagram will pull up images of how artists are putting the blackest paint around to good use. From handpainted photographs to disguising toy models, it seems to be doing the trick just fine.

Black 2.0, as well as other specialty pigments, can be purchased via Semple's Culture Hustle website.

Stuart Semple's Black 2.0 promises to be the blackest paint on the market. The matte, flat, acrylic gives a black hole look similar to Vantablack.

Black 2.0 Paint by Stuart Semple

Image via Culture Hustle

Stuart Semple Blackest Paint

Image via Maggie Durbin

Stuart Semple Blackest Paint

Image via Layne Elkins

Stuart Semple Blackest Paint

Image via rainbrolly

Stuart Semple Blackest Paint

Image via likelifeart

Stuart Semple Blackest Paint

Image via Sarah Atwell

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Culture Hustle: Website | Facebook | Instagram
h/t: [Design Taxi]

Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Staff Editor and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book "Street Art Stories Roma" and most recently contributed to "Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini." You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
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