David Bowie’s ‘Sound & Vision’ Inspires War Child Fundraising Auction
by Lee Sharrock · ForbesDavid Bowie was an artist in every sense of the word, and his creative genius and artistic legacy continues to inspire new generations. Bowie’s timeless music is the inspiration behind an exhibition and online auction raising funds for War Child, with 33 artists including George Underwood, Harland Miller, Ishbel Myerscough, Jonathan Schofield, Nettie Wakefield, Nick Smith and Stuart Semple responding visually to the legendary Bowie lyric “We Like Dancing and We Look Divine” from his anthemic “Rebel Rebel” track.
During his lifetime Bowie was a supporter of War Child, and in 1994 he curated a fundraising exhibition for the charity called Little Pieces from Big Stars with Brian Eno and Athena Eno curated an exhibition raising funds for War Child. Thirty years later and that exhibition inspired the 2024 Sound & Vision War Child fundraiser.
George Underwood, the artist who designed iconic album covers for Bowie’s albums Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, has created an artwork for the fundraising auction, which is timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Bowie’s ‘Diamond Dogs’ album. Underwood’s contribution to the War Child auction is a new version of his painting Dancing with Giants, featuring two dancers wearing costumes based on those worn by dancers at a 1972 performance by Bowie as his alter ego Ziggy Stardust.
Underwood and Bowie were childhood friends before they became artistic collaborators. They met at the age of 9 and went to school together, forming a short-lived band together and remaining lifelong friends. A few decades later Underwood was making angel sculptures following the untimely death in 1993 of Mick Ronson, formerly a guitarist in Bowie’s band, and Bowie asked him to design his Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust album covers. Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes music video featured characters inspired by a painting George did in 1969 for the back cover of David Bowie, the Space Oddity album.
George Underwood explains the inspiration behind the new painting he created for War Child Sound & Vision: “When I saw the line ‘we love dancing and we look divine', I immediately thought of a painting I did in 2004 which was called 'Dancing with Giants'. In the centre of the painting there are a couple of Satyrs dancing naked with sheer drapes. I thought I would steal my own idea and adapt it for the War Child project. Basically, I took the central detail of that painting and enlarged it to fit onto my canvas. There is another Bowie connection in the painting. In August 1972, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars performed at The Rainbow theatre, Finsbury Park. This legendary concert was supported by Roxy Music which is pertinent to my painting as Lindsay Kemp's dance troupe (named 'The Astronettes' for the concert) wore flesh-revealing spider web costumes. I decided to incorporate those same costumes into my painting.”
War Child provides vital support to children and their families in emergency crisis situations in fifteen countries across Africa, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. The Sound & Vision exhibition is curated by Art on a Postcard founder Gemma Peppé.
The participating artists are; Alice Wilson, Andrew Pierre Hart, Aysha Nagieva, Caroline Wong, Charlie Stein, Cheri Smith, Elizabeth Abel, Eric Cruikshank, Fa Razavi, Florence Reekie, George Underwood, Harland Miller, Ioana Baltan, Ishbel Myerscough, Joe Machine, Jonathan Schofield, Joseph Dupré, Julia Soboleva, Katy Stubbs, Leo Costelloe, Lily Macrae, Marie Elisabeth Merlin, Michael Rakowitz, Monika Marchewka, Nick Grindrod, Nick Smith, Noelia Towers, Patrick Hughes, Peter Messer, Sam Drake, Sol Golden Sato, Stuart Semple and Theo Gorst.
The Sound & Vision War Child fundraising auction is online at Art on a Postcard until 1st October, 2024.