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Anish Kapoor’s Latest Work “BUTCHERED” Confronts the Oil and Gas Industry
Anish Kapoor, one of the most influential contemporary artists, has joined forces with Greenpeace to unveil a monumental artwork on Shell’s offshore Skiff gas platform in the North Sea. Titled “BUTCHERED,” the piece deploys over 1,000 liters of artificial blood to embody what Kapoor calls “the collective grief and pain of what has been lost, and a cry for reparation.”
On August 13, 2025, seven Greenpeace activists climbed Shell’s Skiff platform, located 45 nautical miles off the Norfolk coast, to install the 12-by-8 meter canvas. Using high-pressure hoses, they pumped 1,000 liters of artificial blood — made from seawater, beetroot powder, and food dye — across its surface. The striking installation turned the rig into a visceral symbol of the destructive legacy of fossil fuels.
Blood on the Rig: Profits Built on Pain
The choice of site was deliberate. Greenpeace emphasized that the platform represents “the starting point of the violation,” making this the first known instance of fine art displayed on an active fossil fuel rig.
Kapoor described his intention:
“I wanted to make something visual, physical, visceral to reflect the butchery they are inflicting on our planet: a visual scream that gives voice to the calamitous cost of the climate crisis, often on the most marginalised communities across the globe. BUTCHERED is also a tribute to the heroic work done in opposition to this destruction, and to the tireless activists who choose to disrupt, disagree and disobey.”
Anish Kapoor as a Protest Artist
For Greenpeace, the artwork exposes the “wound inflicted on both humanity and the Earth by the fossil fuel industry.” It represents both mourning for what has been lost and a demand for accountability.
This is not Kapoor’s first stand against Big Oil. In 2019, he joined 78 British artists — including Sarah Lucas and Antony Gormley — in urging London’s National Portrait Gallery to sever its three-decade sponsorship ties with BP.
BUTCHERED: Exhibition Information
The intervention took place on August 13, 2025, on Shell’s Skiff gas platform, 45 nautical miles off Norfolk, UK. Although not a conventional exhibition space, “BUTCHERED” is believed to be the first fine artwork ever installed on an active fossil fuel platform, marking a new chapter in activist art that merges direct action with contemporary practice.
Story: Tae Art Man
Photos: Greenpeace
