Artists reflect on David Bowie's life and lyrics for a War Child auction

two men — David Bowie and George Underwood in Mustique

(Image credit: Courtesy of George Underwood)

War Child, the charity providing support to children and their families worldwide, is marking the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs album by asking 40 artists to respond to Rebel Rebel’s lyric, 'We like dancing and we look divine'.

Artists including Ishbel Myerscough, Joseph Dupré, Stuart Semple, Andrew Piere Hart, Nettie Wakefield and Harland Miller are contributing to the resulting exhibition and auction. For artist George Underwood, the connection is a personal one – after meeting David Bowie at school, where they started a band, he went on to create Bowie’s album covers, including Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust.

‘Growing up together we were just like any other kids at the time, although we did have the advantage of being teenagers when rock ‘n roll was born,’ says Underwood on how they met. ‘We were both driven by an ambition to achieve something - hopefully something extraordinary. One of our first artistic collaborations was for the back cover of the 1969 Mercury album titled: David Bowie. David sketched out a rough idea for me to follow which was basically turning the songs into pictures. Before that there were various promotional posters for bands that we were both in. We collaborated together musically way before that as ten or eleven year olds, singing skiffle, pop, rock, blues, folk music, you name it.’

Underwood has drawn on this history for his design for the auction and exhibition for the cause which was close to Bowie’s heart, following the 1994 exhibition, Little Pieces for Big Star, which he curated with Brian and Athena Eno for the charity.

bright pictures — The Chameleon by Jonathan Schofield, one of the works in the auction

‘In 1972, David performed. an incredible concert at the Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park. It was one of the first Ziggy Stardust shows in the U.K,’ Underwood adds. ‘The dancers, who were called ‘Ziggurats’, wore body suits which had a sort of cobweb design printed on them.

Roxy Music were also on the bill. Everyone who saw that concert were completely blown away and I remember it very well, So when it came to creating a piece of artwork with the theme ‘We like dancing and we look divine’ I had an idea which would use the imagery from that concert, and a painting I did in 2004 called ‘Dancing With Giants’. I put the two together by taking a detail from my original painting which included two dancers and wrapped them in the Ziggurat costumes. If you are old enough to remember the concert then it all makes sense!’

Sound & Vision will be exhibited at 180 Strand 26-27 September 2024. The auction runs from 17 September-1 October via Art on a Postcard

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Hannah Silver is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.