Gauntlet Gallery
What is D*Face’s piece called “Love Hurts”
Summary
A half-length comic-romance heroine with closed eyes and a single tear, her face rendered in D*Face's signature sickly green-grey against a black Ben-Day-dot ground, a heart-marked plaster taped across her nose and small white angel wings sprouting from her dark hair. It sits squarely in D*Face's long-running line of doomed comic-strip lovers, reworking 1960s romance-comic panels into wounded, zombified pop portraits.
Why It Matters
Love Hurts distills D*Face's central preoccupation: lifting the visual language of vintage romance comics and advertising, then corrupting it. The crying, bandaged heroine plays the pulp-comic ideal of feminine longing against the artist's death-and-decay palette, turning a saccharine love trope into something bruised and ironic. The plaster bearing a tiny heart is a literal pun on the title, and the winged motif ties back to the artist's broader iconography of flight, fame and fall. As a 2024 screen print it shows D*Face still mining the comic-pop vein that built his reputation alongside peers in the StolenSpace circle.
Collector Perspective
An edition of 65 is small for a contemporary D*Face screen print, which supports scarcity without making it a rarity. The crying comic-heroine subject is among his most recognizable and consistently sought-after motifs, more decorative and wall-friendly than his skull-heavy work, which helps demand. As a recent 2024 release it carries less secondary-market track record than his older editions, so pricing leans on primary value and early resale rather than a deep auction history. Condition, full margins, and intact signature and numbering will matter for resale.
Historical Context
The image draws directly on 1950s-60s American romance comics (the swooning, tearful female lead) filtered through Roy Lichtenstein-style Ben-Day dots, a lineage D*Face has worked since the 2000s. Made in 2024, it belongs to the Contemporary Era and to the artist's ongoing subversive-romance output, where idealized love imagery is undercut by wounds, bandages and his death's-head sensibility. The green skin tone nods to his recurring zombie and mortality treatment of otherwise glamorous figures.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A dark-haired comic-strip woman shown from the shoulders up with her eyes closed and a tear on her cheek, a heart-marked plaster across her nose and small white angel wings in her hair, set on a black Ben-Day-dot background.
How large is the edition?
The edition size is 65.
What medium is it?
It is a hand-pulled screen print.
Is it signed and numbered?
D*Face limited prints are typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist; an edition fraction is visible in the lower margin of this work, though exact details should be confirmed against the certificate or photos.
Who is D*Face?
D*Face is the British street and pop artist Dean Stockton (b. 1978, London), known for defacing comic, advertising and celebrity imagery with skulls, winged 'D*Dog' eyes and doomed comic-strip lovers, and for co-founding the StolenSpace gallery.
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.