Gauntlet Gallery
What is D*Face’s piece called “Human - Nature (First Edition)”
Summary
A swooning comic-strip romance heroine rendered in cool blue with Ben-Day halftone dots, her face in profile with eyes closed, emerging from the top-right corner while D*Face's signature single cartoon wing floats at center-left. The whole composition is raked by streaking diagonal lines of red, white and blue, lending speed and emotional turbulence to a classic pop-appropriation image of the doomed romance-comic lover that recurs throughout D*Face's work.
Why It Matters
This print distills D*Face's central preoccupation: lifting the lovelorn heroine of mid-century romance comics out of her panel and recasting her as a vessel for satire on idealised love, consumer fantasy and manufactured emotion. The fractured red-white-blue streaking pushes the borrowed Lichtenstein-era imagery into something more anxious and contemporary, while the winged motif ties the piece directly to D*Face's broader iconography of the doomed, the divine and the disposable. It sits squarely in his lineage of appropriating commercial graphic language to question the feelings advertising sells us.
Collector Perspective
A 2025 screen print in an edition of 86 places this at the scarce end of D*Face's contemporary print runs, below the 100-150 sizes common for his more widely distributed releases. The subject suits collectors who favour his romance-comic lovers imagery over the skull or D*Dog work, and the dramatic red-white-blue palette gives it strong wall presence. As a recent first edition it has limited secondary-market history, so pricing will track release demand and early resale rather than an established comp record; full margins, condition and intact pencil inscription will matter for long-term value.
Historical Context
The imagery draws on the visual vocabulary of 1950s-60s American romance comics and the pop-art tradition of Roy Lichtenstein, both of which D*Face has mined throughout his career to skewer idealised love and mass-market sentiment. Produced in 2025 in the Contemporary Era, it continues a body of doomed-lovers work the artist has developed since the 2000s, here updated with aggressive streaking abstraction that destabilises the source image rather than simply reproducing it.
FAQ
What does this print depict?
A comic-strip romance heroine shown in profile with her eyes closed, rendered in blue with halftone dots, alongside D*Face's signature single cartoon wing. The image is overlaid with streaking diagonal lines in red, white and blue.
How large is the edition?
The edition size is 86.
What is the medium?
It is a screen print, produced in 2025.
Is it signed and numbered?
D*Face limited-edition prints are typically hand-signed and numbered in pencil by the artist; pencil inscription is visible in the lower left margin of this work.
Who is D*Face?
D*Face is Dean Stockton (b. 1978, London), a British street and pop artist known for defacing comic-book romance, advertising and celebrity imagery. His motifs include the winged-eyed D*Dog, grinning skulls and doomed comic-strip lovers, and he co-founded 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.