A portrait of one of my greatest creative influences, and my favorite singer of all time Julian Casablancas. He’s best known for the Strokes, but this painting is a nod to his ambitious solo work which is mostly under the radar. On his 2009 album Phrazes for the Young, the final track is called Tourist. It’s a song that is thematically sweeping in scope, talking about man’s insignificance in the vast universe and how he feels like an ephemeral observer of the world. It makes reference to mankind’s manipulation of the natural environment and the inevitability of death. It’s the song that registered in my mind when I started painting this. Aesthetically the painting reflects the experimental, other-dimensional style of Casablancas’ music.