In contrast to Unmade Up, Edward Bell’s light-touch but nonetheless deeply personal memoir of David Bowie recently reviewed here, Dylan Jones’ A Life is a weighty, text-heavy tome, with hundreds of contributors packed into its unillustrated 560 pages.
And that’s fine; Jones’ choice of the oral history format maintains the pace as his subject transitions from humble ‘Bromley Dave’ into the superstar whose work continues to beguile and bewitch.
//When they met, Bowie was scrutinising this portrait of Sex, Seditionaries and Jubilee superstar Jordan Mooney at Bell’s exhibition Larger Than Life//
“I, too, had to maintain a certain degree of detachment, and indeed to want and expect nothing of him; the paradox will always remain that, if David Bowie had not been David Bowie, then David Bowie and I could have been friends.”
Edward Bell, 2017
Edward Bell first encountered David Bowie when the rock chameleon turned up unexpectedly at a private view for the British visual artist’s first exhibition in 1980.
They last spoke in 2013, a few years before the musician/performer’s untimely demise. In the intervening period Bell and Bowie hung out in London, Venice and Los Angeles, collaborated on record sleeve projects and maintained sometimes sporadic contact, via a Swiss letter drop address and out-of-the-blue phone calls.
//Sketches for the Lodger sleeve, 1979//
I just had to write and tell you how much I love the book that has just been published. Your work really cascades over the decades and is utterly real and convincing.
Extract of email from David Bowie to Derek Boshier, November 2015
I guess it can be told now. David Bowie was at one stage going to contribute to Rethink/Re-entry, the monograph of the artist Derek Boshier, with whom the late rock star had worked in the late 70s and early 80s.
//Framed shred of Lucian Freud wallpaper designed by David Bowie for inclusion in the 1995 War Child fashion show Pagan Funwear//
It is of course very sad to note the death of David Bowie; 69 is too young, particularly for such an important figure in the pop cultural landscape with an evident abundance of creative contributions still to make to our lives.
//One, Derek Boshier, 1967. Screenprint, 22.5 x 31″//
It’s always a delight to encounter fresh artworks by a favourite artist, and Derek Boshier’s print One from 1967 is no exception.
//From The Observer, December 6, 2015//
Derek Boshier: Rethink/Re-entry – the artist monograph I edited – has been picked as one of the best art books of 2015 by British broadsheet The Observer.
//David Bowie with Derek Boshier and his daughters Lily and Rosa, 1993. Courtesy Derek Boshier. No reproduction without permission//
To mark the publication of my piece about Derek Boshier’s creative collaborations with David Bowie in this month’s British GQ, here is a photograph taken when the rock star visited the artist and his family at his home outside London in the early 90s.
Lucky Los Angeles; later this week there is a special screening of Zara Hayes’ recent film about Derek Boshier, which was shown as part of the What Do Artists Do All Day? strand.
//Derek in his element signing books with the blow up of his Bowie silhouette sketch for Lodger reflected behind him. Photo (c) Sarah Lee//
Last night’s book launch and private view for the Derek Boshier monograph and new exhibition at Flowers Gallery in Cork Street, central London, was a great success.
//Framed sketches for CLASH 2nd Songbook with copies of the published work//
//Specially designed by Boshier for the show, Art ‘Til You Drop tote bags and badges will be available along with copies of the monograph Rethink/Re-entry//
The installation of Rethink/Re-entry, the exhibition at central London gallery Flowers showcasing important works by Derek Boshier from the 1970s as well as collages and films made in the last year, is all-but complete.
These shots were taken yesterday as co-curator Guy Brett and I worked with the Flowers team on sequencing and final selection for the show, which opens tomorrow (October 7).
//Three sketches for sleeve of David Bowie’s 1979 LP Lodger//
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