'D*Dog' by D*Face, 2008
Based on one of the artist's most recognized icons.
Originally released during the artist's "Apocalypse Now" show, London, UK, 2008.
24.5 x 34.5 Inches
62.2 x 87.6 Centimeters
Large figural foil/mylar balloon.
Never released to the general public.
Hand-signed and dated by the artist in black marker.
In-person signature acquired at DesignerCon, Anaheim, CA, 2019.
ABOUT THE ART
The D*Dog is a kind of balloon with wings that flap in the wind, a lolling tongue and large bared teeth, an anthropomorphic creature that rejects the status of daily routine and regimented rules, a typical adolescent trait.
In the words of the artist, “I’d rather fly like my dog. I don’t recognisethe concept of authority, that’s why in Great Britain I don’t like the Queen and what she represents.”
ARTIST BIO
D*Face, aka Dean Stockton, is an English multimedia graffiti street artist who uses spray paint, stickers, posters, and stencils. D*Face is one of the most prolific contemporary urban artists of his generation. Working with a variety of mediums and techniques, he uses a family of dysfunctional characters to satirise and hold to ransom all that falls into their grasp.
His aim is to encourage the public not just to 'see', but to look at what surrounds them and their lives, reflecting our increasingly bizarre fascination for with celebrity, fame, consumerism and materialism, re-thinking, reworking and subverting imagery drawn from a refuge of decades of materialistic consumption, imagery appropriated from currency, advertising, comic books, these now iconic motifs, cultural figures and genres are subverted to comment upon our conspicuous society.
One of D*Face's most celebrated icons is D-Dog, a bomb like figure with two tiny wings on the sides. Recent examples of D*Face's satirical and dark humour include his chosen "collaborations"; with H.R.H Queen Elizabeth II on a series of bank notes and the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI to commemorate his instatement. D*Face also designed the cover of Automatic's debut album Not Accepted Anywhere and in 2010 he collaborated with Christina Aguilera on her album cover of Bionic. He was also one of fifty artists commissioned to create a 50th anniversary Penguin book cover and is the only urban artist to date to be featured on the front cover of the fine art publication Art Review.
D*Face describes his artistic method as, 'Like a snail leaving it's sticky trail, I leave my artwork; Stickers, Posters, Marker Drawings on empty advertising space and discarded objects, always on the lookout for that ultimate spot.'
D*Face has exhibited internationally including solo and group exhibitions in London, Stockholm, Barcelona, New York, Hamburg, Paris, San Francisco, Culver City and Los Angeles. Well known exhibitions have included sell out solo shows Death & Glory, EyeCons, aPOPcalypse now, All your Dreams Belong to Us and Going Nowhere Fast.