Gauntlet Gallery
What is D*Face’s piece called “Cli-Che”
Summary
D*Face renders the most reproduced photograph in history — Korda's heroic portrait of Che Guevara in his starred beret — as a grinning gold skull against a flat communist-red ground, the star on the beret swapped for D*Face's winged-eyed D*Dog motif and crimson paint dripping from the bust. It is a defining early example of D*Face turning revolutionary iconography into a memento mori about how rebellion gets packaged and sold.
Why It Matters
The Che portrait is the textbook case of a radical image hollowed out by commerce — printed on a billion T-shirts until it means nothing. By replacing Che's face with a skull and his beret-star with his own D*Dog logo, D*Face makes the death of meaning literal: the revolutionary becomes a brand, the brand becomes a corpse. The pun in the title (cliche / Che) signals the whole argument. It sits squarely in his practice of defacing celebrity and consumer imagery, and ranks among his most legible single-image statements about fame, ideology, and appropriation.
Collector Perspective
An edition of 98 from 2007 puts this in the scarcer band of D*Face's print editions, and the subject is unusually iconic for him — the Che/skull mashup is instantly readable and reads as a "greatest hits" image rather than a deep-cut motif, which helps demand. It carries his core skull and D*Dog vocabulary in one frame, so it appeals to collectors buying for representative content as much as decoration. Early-period (2007) D*Face screen prints have an established secondary market; condition, signature and number drive price, and a strong political-pop image like this tends to move faster than his more generic pieces.
Historical Context
The source is Alberto Korda's 1960 photograph "Guerrillero Heroico," the basis for the ubiquitous two-tone Che poster. By 2007 D*Face and his StolenSpace circle were mid-rise within a UK street-art scene fixated on appropriating mass-media and political imagery, the same cultural moment that produced Shepard Fairey's propaganda-styled work. Cli-Che belongs to D*Face's Early Street Era, when his comic-pop defacement of recognizable icons — celebrities, advertising, and here a political martyr — was crystallizing into the skull-and-D*Dog language he is known for.
FAQ
What does this D*Face print depict?
It is the famous Che Guevara portrait — beret with a star, here replaced by D*Face's winged-eye D*Dog logo — but with Che's face rendered as a grinning gold skull on a flat red background, with red paint dripping from the bust.
Why is it called Cli-Che?
The title is a pun on 'cliche' and 'Che.' The Che image is the most over-reproduced political portrait in the world, and D*Face turns that exhaustion into the point: a revolutionary icon worn down to a dead cliche.
What is the edition size and medium?
It is a screen print in an edition of 98, produced in 2007.
Is it signed and numbered?
D*Face limited prints are typically hand-signed and numbered by the artist; signature and numbering on any specific copy should be confirmed from the actual sheet and any accompanying documentation.
Who is D*Face?
D*Face is the British street artist Dean Stockton (born 1978, London), a pop-art provocateur who defaces comic-book, advertising and celebrity imagery using motifs like the winged-eyed D*Dog and grinning skulls, and who 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.