A monumental mural painted by Street Artist D*Face AKA Dean Stockton, 36, from Dulwich, has appeared on Commercial Street near Spitalfields market. The paintings, believed to be the largest outdoor work in the capital measures 13 metres tall by 26 metres wide.
“D*Face”, grew up in London and had a childhood interest in graffiti. He credits this to Henry Chalfant’s coverage of New York City subway graffiti in Spraycan Art and Subway Art, later as a teenager skateboarding and in particular Thrasher magazine’s coverage of skateboard deck graphics led his interest in stickers and the DIY mentality associated with skate and punk fanzines. He attended an illustration and design course and worked as a freelance illustrator/designer whilst honing his street work. Influences included Shepard Fairey’s “Obey Giant” art campaign, Jim Philips, hip hop, punk music, and popular animated cartoons.
He held his first major London solo exhibition, Death & Glory, at the Stolenspace gallery, which sold out in October 2006. Since then, his exhibitions have included a solo show, Eyecons, at O Contemporary in Brighton in March 2007, again a sell out show. This featured new paintings, an installation and two prints — of Kurt “Kant Complain” and Cli-Che.D*Face studied art in London and has been active for 15 years. He has been shown in galleries from New York to Los Angeles and Tokyo, specialising in re-working comic books, advertisements and currency to make social comments.