10 Things You Didn't Know About M.I.A.'s Visual Art Career

Image via Complex Original

Considering M.I.A.'s overall artistic talent and vision, it's not a surprise that the artist was a former student at London's Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design. Unbeknown to many, however, M.I.A. never actually applied to the prestigious art school. When she was in the U.S., she missed all deadlines to submit university applications. On the other hand, she also knew she wanted to pursue art at CSM but did not have the grades to qualify. "But I really wanted to study art, and the only place I wanted to go [was] St. Martins 'cause it's the best one [in England], and I didn't have any qualifications," she told Arthur in 2007. "So I got the name of the head of the art department and just rant him up every single day at, like, 1:37 p.m., just as he was biting into his sandwich."

At first, the art department administrator refused her, reminding her that "16,000 people apply for 20 places, go through six interviews to get in, and that [she couldn't] just waltz in." Determined, M.I.A. wouldn't take no for answer, arguing she'd become a hooker if she didn't get in. In the end, M.I.A. was finally admitted for her perseverance and her chutzpah—essentially her boldness and unconventional approach to getting in the school.

Although M.I.A. may be better known for her self-designed album covers and graffiti-style art, she actually attended CSM for film. During her studies, M.I.A. actually found her film lectures to be too theoretical and outdated, and her classmates too limited with their work.

After growing up in Sri Lanka during a period of turmoil and civil war, she wanted to create films that were more pertinent to current times, and ones that embodied reality. "Instead, [CSM] had students who were all so serious about what they were doing, not mixing with others because no one was clever enough, making films for the intelligentsia...dealing with old theories that no one was updating to make relevant for our lives. It missed the the whole point of art representing society," she told Arthur.

Thus, M.I.A. ended up writing a screenplay about London youth offenders, Gratis. Afterwards, M.I.A. started turning her film work into stills and began working with prints on canvases.

After her unsuccessful attempt to turn the Gratis script into a production, M.I.A. returned to Sri Lanka to reconnect with her childhood and to film a documentary about what was happening in Sri Lanka. In Tamil, she captured 60 hours of footage showing the country's youth culture and turmoil.

Eventually, her footage became film stills, photographs, and stencils—which she made into spray painted canvases and graffiti art for her first exhibition, M.I.A.. Her debut show opened at a clothing store called Euphoria, located on London's Portobello Road. M.I.A. was a huge success, landing her a nomination for the Alternative Turner Prize. The pieces sold out in minutes, a few of which were purchased by Jude Law.

In 1999, back when she was a student in college, M.I.A. met Justine Frischmann (the lead vocalist for the British band, Elastica) at an Air concert. Frischmann then hired M.I.A. to produce the album art for The Menace, released in 2000. M.I.A. also joined Elastica on their U.S. tour as the band photographer. She also created the cover of Elastica's "The Bitch Don't Work," which was the band's last single.

After her time with Elastica, M.I.A. began experimenting with and making her own music. With her artistic vision and her understanding of art, film, and music, M.I.A. was able to design the cover art for her albums and singles like Arular, Kala, /\/\ /\ Y /\, and more.

While GIFs are all the rage today, M.I.A. actually discovered and started creating GIFs before they were developed or widely-used. Using herself as the subject, she experimented with Photoshop on her best friend's computer. "It was not great, but it was a way for me to learn his computer. I made this frame-by-frame. I'd cut the background out," M.I.A. said in November 2012 at MoMA PS1. "Now it's just a click of a button, but back then, that was what I did for two weeks. I'd make this loop, which is now like a GIF, and that was enough." Her earliest GIF-making days paved the way for the larger, animated creations to come.

M.I.A. teamed up with Ryder Ripps' company, OKFocus, to create trippy-looking, GIF-inspired websites like Facefacefacebook.com, 4thepeopleontheboat.com, and bedroomtothehallwaytotheroadtotheworld.com. She used these virtual pieces of art as platforms to drop new songs before the official release of /\/\ /\ Y /\.

In addition to creating virtual art as a way to promote /\/\ /\ Y /\, M.I.A. also showed an art exhibition at MoMA PS1 in 2010. The exhibition showcased digitally-inspired pieces, which spanned four walls. It also had a screening of the "Born Free" music video, a brief performance, documentary viewing, and a dance party.

In the summer of 2012, M.I.A. was tapped as one of six artists to re-design the label of a Beck's beer bottle. Inspired by a trip to India, M.I.A. incorporated a yin-yang symbol into the bottle label, which also resembles the singer's colorful album covers.

Last December, M.I.A. took the stage to perform at the inauguration of Kochi-Muziris Biennale, an international contemporary art exhibition, held in Kochi, Kerala. While the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was the first biennale to be held in India, it was also M.I.A.'s first stage performance in India. She also exhibited her own work at the Biennale.