Psychedelic Neo-Pop

by Malik Saleti

Tentacles & Vices, a Malik Saleti collection. Five one-of-one paintings, each one a human vice or pleasure: indulgence, obsession, escapism, bad habits and nightlife.

See the collection
$850

Tentacles & Vices

A Malik Saleti collection

Repeating tentacles, flat saturated color, heavy black outlines, food and drink, and a slightly weird sense of humor. Each painting stands for one human vice or pleasure. Every piece is a signed, one-of-one original. When one's claimed, it's gone.

$850 Escapism

Space Cowboy

A star-spangled boot, a ray gun, and a blue octopus headed anywhere but here.

One-of-one original on canvas

$750 Indulgence

Breakfast of Champions

Butter, syrup, and a pink tentacle sneaking in with a fork for one more bite.

One-of-one original on canvas

$650 Vice

Bad Habits

Two tentacles, two cigars, one lighter. Nobody's quitting tonight.

One-of-one original on canvas

$550 Nightlife

Dirty Martini

Green tentacle, olive garnish, spilled on purpose.

One-of-one original on canvas

$375 Obsession

I Love You So Much It Hurts

A purple tentacle that won't let go, wrapped around the words.

One-of-one original on canvas

How it's made

Space Cowboy, from blank pink canvas to finished piece.

  1. A pink canvas with the first loose pencil outline of a cowboy boot

    Rough it in

    A color ground, then the big shapes in a loose outline.

  2. Detailed marker drawing of the boot with stars and tentacles covered in suckers

    Draw every sucker

    The full drawing goes down in marker, down to the last sucker ring.

  3. The boot painted gold and pink with the octopus blocked in blue

    Block the color

    Flat, loud color, one section at a time.

  4. The finished painting with thick black outlines and bright sucker rings

    Thick black lines

    The outlines go on last and pull the whole thing together.

Already gone

Earlier character paintings, all sold. Want something like one of these? Ask about a commission.

  • Crowned Owl Sold
  • Top Hat Money Sold
  • Big Cat Energy Sold
  • Gossamer 1 Sold
  • Ya Finesse Sold
  • Fastest in Town Sold
  • Bang Bang Sold
  • Deep Purple Sold
  • Frog Money Sold
  • Chain Bunny Sold
  • Rich Duck Sold
  • First Drip Sold
  • Blue Pup Sold
  • Night Tentacles Sold

About

I'm Malik Saleti. I paint psychedelic pop surrealism.

I started out painting graffiti in Mexico in 1994 under the name SUBVERT, then moved on to murals, including water tanks and walls in Laredo, Texas. Big surfaces taught me big color and thick lines, and they never left.

Today the work lives somewhere between lowbrow pop surrealism, street illustration and old tattoo flash. Tentacles & Vices is where it all came together: one recognizable visual language, five very human weaknesses.

  • Graffiti
  • Murals
  • Characters
  • Tentacles & Vices
Two pink tentacles holding lit cigars and a silver lighter against a teal background

Holla at me

Tell me what you want and I'll get back to you.