David Studwell

James Dean - Soft Blue, Screenprint Art, Celebrity Art, Still-life

2025

David Studwell is a contemporary British printmaker celebrated for his vibrant, Pop-Art–inspired screenprints that explore the glamour and fragility of fame. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, London, Studwell has spent more than two decades refining a visual language that fuses the bold iconography of 1960s–70s popular culture with a distinctly modern edge. Drawing on the golden era of Hollywood and the music industry, his work re-imagines legendary figures such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Bob Dylan, Steve McQueen, and Elizabeth Taylor. Studwell’s precision screen-printing and frequent use of diamond dust create striking images that shimmer with both allure and an underlying sense of vulnerability. His art examines the tension between celebrity’s polished façade and the darker realities behind it—often referencing paparazzi snapshots, mugshots and other intimate, off-guard moments. Studwell’s limited-edition prints have attracted an international following and are held in the collections of Kate Moss, Nile Rodgers and Sheryl Crow, among others. Highlights include his celebrated collaboration with photographer Terry O’Neill on Elton John: Home Run – Dodger Stadium 1975, a six-colour diamond-dust screenprint paying tribute to one of rock’s most iconic performances. Featured in GQ, Elle and The World of Interiors, and exhibited at leading events such as the Affordable Art Fair (London), Studwell continues to capture the glitter and grit of modern celebrity culture in works that are at once nostalgic and sharply contemporary.