"D*Face" aka. Dean Stockton. Grew up in London and had a childhood interest in graffiti. He credits this to Henry Chalfant's coverage of New York subway graffiti in Spraycan Art and Subway Art, later as a teenager skateboarding and in particular Thrasher magazine's coverage of skateboard deck graphics led his interest in stickers and the DIY mentality associated with skate and punk fanzines. He attended an illustration and design course and worked as a freelance illustrator/designer whilst honing his street work. Influences included Shepard Fairey's "Obey Giant" art campaign, Jim Philips, hip hop, punk music, and popular animated cartoons.
He held his first major London solo exhibition, Death & Glory, at the Stolenspace gallery, which sold out in October 2006. Since then, his exhibitions have included a solo show, Eyecons, at O Contemporary in Brighton in March 2007, again a sell out show. This featured new paintings, an installation and two prints — of Kurt "Kant Complain" and Cli-Che. D*Face was the owner and curator for the Outside Institute, a contemporary art gallery in London that focused on street art. In 2005 the Outside Institute moved and re branded to become the Stolen Space Gallery.
D*Face is a London-based sculptor and stencil artist, who uses London as his own personal gallery. Sticking, pasting and drawing on any wall or space he doesn't actually own.
Known for his subversive images, which involve a family of dysfunctional characters whose roles are to shock as well as entertain, his work challenges orthodox thinking whilst sticking two fingers up at the establishment. His characters, such as ‘D*Dog’ are vehicles for which the viewer questions their relationship with the work, it aims to encourage the public to not just ‘see’ but to look at their surroundings.
An associate of Banksy, he has shown works at the world famous Santa's Ghetto and recently had his own solo exhibition at the Stolen Space gallery in East London.
Working with a variety of mediums and techniques, D*Face uses a family of dysfunctional characters to satirise and hold to ransom all that falls into their grasp a welcome jolt of subversion in today's media-saturated environment. His aim is to encourage the public not just to 'see', but to look at what surrounds them and their lives. Recent examples include his collaboration with H.R.H Queen Elizabeth II on a series of bank notes that were put into circulation for an unsuspecting public to notice them in their change. Then, to commemorate the instatement of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican commissioned D*Face to paint a portrait. The piece was shown for the first time at the Outside Institute in May 2005, as well as on MTV Rome, to critical acclaim.
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