David Bowie was born David Jones in Brixton, London in 1947. He first took up the saxophone at age 13 and his talent lead to the release of his first album. Both the first and second albums were released with the title: David Bowie, then the second album was re-released as ‘Space Oddity’ and became a massive hit and the legend was born.

Bowie lived for the most part infront of a lens, and was possibly one of the first icons to successfully alter his image and approach several times over the course of his career to adapt as each musical era changed. Martyn Ware who founded The Human League and Heaven 17 remarked on the depth of his pervasive artistry that Bowie had lived his life “as though he were an art installation.”

I hoped to capture the energy of the great man in this painting of the time he produced the ‘Let’s Dance’ album from around 1983. Modern Love was one of the hugely popular tracks from the Let’s Dance album and along with China Girl became cornerstone videos of the fledgling MTV generation.

Part of a collection of paintings I have made of David Bowie.

Acrylic on canvas.