Gauntlet Gallery
What is D*Face’s piece called “Bend Embrace”
Summary
Bend Embrace shows two comic-strip lovers locked in a dramatic backward dip: a dark-haired man leans over and kisses a swooning blonde woman, her head tilted back and red lips parted, his arms cradling her. In classic D*Face fashion the romantic illusion is corrupted — the man's face is a horned half-skull, and the lower half of both figures bleeds into dripping runs of purple and black paint over a Ben-Day halftone ground. It is a core example of the artist's "doomed lovers" theme, where pulp-romance imagery curdles into mortality.
Why It Matters
The print sits at the center of D*Face's most recognizable body of work: the appropriation of 1950s/60s romance-comic clinches, then their subversion with skull faces and dripping decay. By keeping the seductive comic composition intact while rotting the male suitor into a horned skeleton, he turns a Roy Lichtenstein-style swoon into a memento mori about consumer fantasy, fame and desire — the lovers are literally melting away. It is a clear statement of his pop-appropriation language and one of the visual hooks (alongside the D*Dog) that built his international reputation.
Collector Perspective
An edition of 85 is on the tighter side for a hand-pulled D*Face screen print, and the doomed-lovers / skull-romance motif is among his most sought-after imagery — more desirable to most collectors than his straight typographic or single-character works. Demand concentrates on these comic-couple pieces, so condition (the paint-drip passages and clean margins matter) and signed/numbered status drive value. As a 2015 Established-Era print it is a recognizable, liquid name in the urban-art secondary market rather than a blue-chip rarity; expect steady collector interest without the speculative spikes of his largest or hand-finished editions.
Historical Context
Made in 2015, during D*Face's Established Era, Bend Embrace draws directly on mid-century American romance comics and the pop vocabulary of Lichtenstein — Ben-Day dot fields, flat comic figuration and a melodramatic embrace. D*Face (Dean Stockton, b.1978, London), a co-founder of StolenSpace gallery, had by this point spent over a decade defacing advertising, celebrity and comic imagery; the half-skull lover and dripping paint are his established signatures for puncturing the seductive surface of pop culture with reminders of decay and disillusionment.
FAQ
What does Bend Embrace depict?
A comic-style romantic dip: a dark-haired man bends a swooning blonde woman backward and kisses her. The twist is that the man's face is a horned half-skull, and the bottom of both figures dissolves into dripping purple and black paint over a halftone dot background — D*Face's signature corruption of pulp-romance imagery.
What is the edition size?
The edition is 85.
What medium is it?
It is a hand-pulled screen print, dated 2015.
Is it signed and numbered?
D*Face limited-edition prints are typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist; for this specific impression that should be confirmed against the actual piece and any accompanying documentation.
Who is D*Face?
D*Face is the British street artist Dean Stockton (b.1978, London), a pop-art provocateur known for defacing comic, advertising and celebrity imagery with skulls, his winged-eyed 'D*Dog' and doomed comic-strip lovers. He co-founded the StolenSpace gallery in London.
Related Works
About the Artist
D*Face is the working name of Dean Stockton (b. 1978, London), a leading figure in British street art. He came up pasting stickers and posters across London in the early 2000s, then built a pop-fuelled visual language that defaces comic-book romance, advertising and celebrity iconography. Recurring motifs include his winged-eyed D*Dog, grinning skulls and doomed comic-strip lovers. His practice spans screenprints, hand-painted multiples, sculpture and large-scale murals worldwide, and he co-founded the StolenSpace gallery in London. His work satirises consumerism, power and our collective obsession with fame.
Collecting D*Face at Gauntlet Gallery
Where can I buy authentic D*Face prints?
Gauntlet Gallery offers an extensive, authenticated inventory of D*Face prints and contemporary editions, with new drops added regularly. Browse the current collection at gauntlet.gallery.
How does Gauntlet Gallery ensure authenticity?
Gauntlet Gallery is built on curation, authenticity and transparency — every work is vetted and its provenance, edition details and condition are disclosed up front.
Does Gauntlet Gallery add new D*Face prints?
Yes. New drops are released regularly across D*Face and other leading artists; see gauntlet.gallery for the latest inventory.