Contemporary Art with a Rock n'Roll edge!
When asked we are what we are looking for when taking on a Contemporary artist to represent, a name which instantly springs to mind as our gold standard is David Studwell.
This is because David Studwell as both a person and an artist embodies all that is most wanted by a gallerist. The perfect cocktail of meticulous technique, vintage cool and innovation is blended with an easy going professional grace; all too rare a quality in an ambitious rising star.
It is no surprise to us that David's career has begun to soaring to dizzying new heights of fame.
Throughout late 2018 David's work has been heavily featured in the UK's national press. His aforementioned attributes as an artist led to a dream collaboration with Pop Music legend Sir Elton John and the iconic British art photographer Terry O'Neill, best known for his celebrity images throughout the 1960's and 70's which include the likes of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Royal Family and of course Sir Elton John himself.
Through David's finesse and flair the final work produced through this extraordinary meeting of minds was based on a vintage Terry O'Neill photograph of the iconic Elton John Dodger Stadium concert, with the final piece entitled ‘Elton John: Home Run-Dodger Stadium 1975,’ a masterful six colour screen print with hand embellished diamond dust, created in a limited edition of 50.
DAVID STUDWELL - ELTON JOHN: HOME RUN - DODGER STADIUM 1975 (FRAMED)
It was decided that a few co-signed copies of this piece would be produced aside from the edition and that one would be sold at auction in the lead up to Christmas with all profits going to The Elton John's Aids Foundation. The work was promoted and auctioned through the London Evening Standard newspaper, selling for a sum in excess of £12,000. Another print signed this time solely by David is set to be auctioned as I write this.
It is certainly no act of happenstance nor through a 'lucky break' that David Studwell is now rising to international stature as a contemporary artist. His work ethic is intense to say the least, his ability to create seemingly endless. Since having trained at St Martins School of Art, David's skills have been honed over some twenty plus years, marking him out as a true professional. A David Studwell silkscreen is now a thing so precise and so perfect that it has an instantly recognisable signature quality. This quality has already placed David's work firmly in the canon of numerous top tier private celebrity art collections, including those of Kate Moss, Sheryl Crow and Nile Rogers.
DAVID STUDWELL - MARILYN MONROE - CANDY FLOSS PINK (FRAMED)
One factor which made David the perfect fit to work with the likes of Terry O'Neill on his vintage Elton shot and which has helped to cement his place within such illustrious collections is the fact that his work harnesses the true spirit of the fifties, sixties and seventies. His art offers a crisp commentary on the cult of celebrity following in the direct legacy of Andy Warhol and the sixties Pop Art movement. Studwell works through the medium of Silkscreen printing with the use of bold and vibrant colour and a very demanding level of technical precision. He often incorporates the use of razor sharp diamond dust to finish his works. The signature Studwell look is one of a high end classic Hollywood glamour which evokes high fashion whilst echewing passing fads:
I feel that I’m different to many artists in the sense that my work harks back to bygone eras. The golden age of Hollywood, the fifties and the sixties have always attracted me. My focus is on a period when the word ‘celebrity’ actually meant something. Unlike today when reality TV or social media springboards unknowns into the spotlight (David Studwell).
DAVID STUDWELL - AUDREY HEPBURN III
https://thearthoundgallery.com/collections/david-studwell/products/david-studwell-audrey-hepburn-iii
David's works also explore the darker side of fame, nostalgia and Americana - police mug shots of well known stars show them at their most vulnerable, or at their most defiant. Private moments of icons at screen tests or during reflection become graphically public, produced in bold and vivid colours.
DAVID STUDWELL - THE KRAY TWINS
David Studwell is perhaps our most glamorous artist. As a gallery his work fills a unique place in our collection as one of our key contemporary artists. As the Art Hound collection specifically traces the legacy of original Pop Art through to its contemporary legacy, David Studwell is in some ways an obvious fit. But Studwell's work is unlike any other contemporary artist, because his work is a direct mainline to that old school glamour.
Unlike the Street, Urban and Punk movements which grew from their sixties mother like angry bastard children, Studwell's work is the pure bred heir. His silkscreens directly reference the counterculture cool of the sixties and seventies, with a cutting edge contemporary style apparent in his striking juxtapositions of beauty, fame and stardom with a technicolour expose of inner vulnerability. Studwell has gone back to the past in order to comment on the present:
My motive is to explore celebrity, it’s dark side as well as what we see in magazines or on TV. That is why I create the mugshots – to display the flaws celebrities have – to prove they are only human like you or me. I also want to recreate the mood and glamour of those bygone eras, whilst putting my own unique contemporary stamp on each piece (David Studwell).
DAVID STUDWELL - JIMI HENDRIX I
https://thearthoundgallery.com/collections/david-studwell/products/david-studwell-jimi-hendrix-i
An original David Studwell silkscreen makes a refreshingly bold statement, it says: "I like beautiful things, I'm not afraid to be glamorous and I'm not trying to be cool... I just am".
The Art Hound Gallery have an extensive collection of new works by David Studwell, including his famous Elton John silkscreen, browse our collection below, or enquire for other works by this artist:
https://thearthoundgallery.com/collections/david-studwell
Photographs copyright The Art Hound Gallery.
https://thearthoundgallery.com
Article courtesy of The London Evening Standard
Written by Tom Arnold, Director, The Art Hound Gallery.
Following on from our collaboration with Riverside Studios Icons exhibition in 2020, The Art Hound Gallery, known for its cutting edge cool, presents an even bigger and badder exhibition for the New Year 2022.
This January the Gallery presents ‘Bad Reputation’ a four month epic art exhibition from Jan 11th – April 18th 2022, inspired by bad ass females and celebrating awesome women who dare to kick back.
Taking a cue from rock n ‘ roll queen Joan Jett for the title, ‘Bad Reputation’ will feature an entirely new collection of artworks by some of the most exciting contemporary artists in the country, created exclusively for sale at the show.
Charity auction in collaboration with Riverside Studios, London.
https://riversidestudios.co.uk/
All proceeds from this auction will be donated to homeless social enterprise Under One Sky.
https://underoneskytogether.com/
Win this very rare co-signed Diamond Dust Silkscreen portrait of Hollywood actress Elizabeth McGovern by renowned British artist David Studwell.
Co-signed live by Elizabeth McGovern and David Studwell, on stage at Riverside Studios, London, during the production of 'Ava', starring Elizabeth McGovern.
