A striking new Anish Kapoor work has been unveiled on a Shell gas rig in the North Sea, turning industrial infrastructure into a stage for climate change art. Titled BUTCHERED, the large-scale installation was created in collaboration with Greenpeace and debuted on August 13th, 2025, as the UK faced its fourth heatwave of the summer.
Anish Kapoor art confronts the fossil fuel industry
The artwork consists of a 12-by-8 meter canvas attached to the side of Shell’s Skiff platform, 45 nautical miles off the coast of Norfolk. Greenpeace climbers secured the canvas before spraying it with 1,000 liters of deep-red liquid, made from seawater, beetroot powder, and non-toxic dye. The image of “bleeding” fabric was conceived as a metaphor for the wounds inflicted on the planet and humanity by relentless fossil fuel extraction.
Kapoor described the piece as a “visual scream,” designed to make visible the hidden costs of oil and gas dependence. His vision aligns with Greenpeace’s long-standing use of art and protest to hold major corporations accountable for their role in the climate crisis.
Greenpeace emphasized that this is the first time fine art has been displayed on an active offshore gas platform. The action was both symbolic and political, highlighting the urgent human and ecological toll of climate change.
Anish Kapoor’s art as protest
This is not the first time Kapoor has spoken out against the fossil fuel industry. In 2019, he joined fellow British artists in urging the National Portrait Gallery to sever its ties with BP. With BUTCHERED, his stance has become more visceral: a blood-red symbol placed directly at the site of extraction, forcing attention on the destructive cycle of profit and climate damage.
Photography courtesy of GREENPEACE