Gauntlet Gallery
What is D*Face’s piece called “Death And Glory (First edition)”
Summary
Death And Glory reworks Joe Rosenthal's celebrated Iwo Jima flag-raising photograph: a cluster of black-and-white soldiers struggle to plant a stark black flag atop not a hill of earth but a teeming mound of skulls and tangled corpses, rendered in inky black with sickly bone-yellow highlights. It is one of D*Face's most pointed anti-war statements, channelling his comic-strip line work and skull obsession into a critique of military glory built on mass death.
Why It Matters
The print takes one of the most reproduced patriotic images of the 20th century and detonates its meaning, recasting heroic sacrifice as a pyramid of the dead crowned by a flag drained of all colour and triumph. That move, hijacking shared cultural iconography to expose the cost behind the propaganda, sits at the heart of D*Face's practice and links him to the lineage of Pop appropriation and street-art subversion. As an etching rather than his more familiar screenprint, it also shows him working in a denser, more traditionally graphic register, which suits the morbid, engraved texture of the corpse-mound.
Collector Perspective
With an edition of just 58, this is among the scarcer D*Face works to surface, and the etching medium plus the early 2007 date give it appeal to collectors who favour his rawer, pre-fame street period over later polished editions. The subject matter, an overtly political anti-war image, is strong and recognisable, though its grim tone makes it less of a crowd-pleasing decorative piece than his romance-comic or D*Dog prints, which can narrow the buyer pool. It occupies a solid mid-tier position: desirable for completists and fans of his darker work, but not a blue-chip headline piece.
Historical Context
Made in 2007, during D*Face's early street era as he was building StolenSpace and a transatlantic profile, the print directly references Joe Rosenthal's 1945 Associated Press photograph of US Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, an image long enshrined as a symbol of valour and later cast in bronze as the Marine Corps War Memorial. The mid-2000s, with ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan in the news, gave anti-war appropriation particular charge, and the skull-mound motif ties the work to the memento mori and mortality themes that run throughout his output.
FAQ
What does Death And Glory depict?
It reworks the famous 1945 Iwo Jima flag-raising photograph: soldiers raise a plain black flag, but instead of standing on a hill they stand atop a heaped mountain of skulls and corpses, turning an image of military glory into a comment on the mass death beneath it.
How large is the edition?
The first edition is limited to 58 prints, making it one of the scarcer D*Face editions to come to market.
What medium is it?
It is an etching, produced in 2007, giving it a denser, more traditionally engraved graphic quality than D*Face's screenprints.
Is it signed and numbered?
D*Face limited-edition prints are typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist, though for any specific copy this should be confirmed against the actual sheet and any accompanying documentation.
Who is D*Face?
D*Face is the British street artist Dean Stockton (b. 1978, London), a Pop-influenced provocateur known for defacing comic-book, advertising and celebrity imagery, for motifs like the winged-eyed D*Dog and grinning skulls, 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.