Gauntlet Gallery
What is D*Face’s piece called “Left For Dead”
Summary
A blue-toned comic-pop screen print of a despondent man slumped over a bar, head propped in both hands before a half-empty shot glass, the liquid bleeding down into long ink-drip runs below the counter. D*Face fuses the figure's anguished face with a grinning skull and crowns him with two small devil horns, turning a classic romance-comic scene of heartbreak into one of his signature meditations on mortality, vice and self-destruction.
Why It Matters
"Left For Dead" is a clean example of D*Face's core strategy: hijacking the visual grammar of mid-century American romance and pulp comics and corrupting it from the inside. The half-skull face and devil horns convert a moment of ordinary male misery into a memento mori, while the dripping bar suggests dissolution literally running out of the frame. It distills the artist's lifelong themes—self-destruction, the rot beneath consumer-culture cool, and the skull as the punchline to every fantasy of glamour—into a single restrained, monochrome composition.
Collector Perspective
An edition of 99 is on the tighter side for a D*Face screen print, where runs frequently reach 100–150 or more, so supply is modest. The piece checks the boxes serious D*Face buyers look for: the skull motif, comic-strip source imagery, and a complete single-figure narrative rather than a logo or repeat-pattern design. It sits in the accessible mid-tier of his print market—not a marquee large-format or hand-finished work, but a desirable, recognizable image that should hold steady demand. Condition matters: the predominantly white sheet shows handling and the drip passage can register marks easily.
Historical Context
Released in 2021, the print draws on the romance- and crime-comic idiom of 1950s–60s American print culture—the same Lichtenstein-adjacent source material D*Face has reworked since the early 2000s—but strips out the speech bubble and pushes it toward solitary despair. The devil horns and exposed skull continue motifs running through his work since his StolenSpace and early street-poster years, placing it firmly in his mature Contemporary-era output.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A man hunched over a bar with his head in his hands, facing a half-empty shot glass whose contents drip down below the counter. His face is rendered half as flesh, half as a grinning skull, and he wears two small devil horns—D*Face's twist on a heartbroken romance-comic scene.
How large is the edition?
The edition size is 99.
What medium is it?
It is a hand-pulled screen print (silkscreen) on paper, made in 2021.
Is it signed and numbered?
D*Face limited-edition prints are typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist, usually in pencil; signing and numbering on this specific example should be confirmed against the actual sheet and any accompanying certificate.
Who is D*Face?
D*Face is the British street and pop artist Dean Stockton (b. 1978, London), known for defacing comic-book, advertising and celebrity imagery with skulls, devil horns and his winged-eyed 'D*Dog' character. 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.