Stephen Sprouse (1953-2004)

Sid Vicious in Baton Rouge...

Acrylic and screenprint in colours, 1988, signed, dated and inscribed 'for Steven thanks 4 everything' in black ink verso, on canvas, 1880 x 1880mm (74 x 74in) (stretcher)

Provenance:

The Estate of Steven A. Greenberg, New York

When one thinks of the punk fashion scene, there are two names that immediately spring to mind: Vivienne Westwood and Stephen Sprouse.

While Westwood has long been recognised as the creator of punk's rebel aesthetic in London, it was Stephen Sprouse who pioneered punk fashion in New York. Sprouse took punk fashion in an altogether different direction from Westwood, forging what has been described as a "mix of uptown sophistication with downtown punk and pop sensibility". His designs brought together Westwood's punk aesthetic with the newly emerging New York graffiti and hip-hop scenes, and he often collaborated on his projects with prominent artists such as Keith Haring and Andy Warhol.

In fact, it was Warhol himself that persuaded Sprouse to turn his hand to art, leading the young designer to produce some canvases at Warhol's infamous studio, The Factory. The present work is one such example of Sprouse's bold experimentation between Pop, Punk and Fashion during his time there. The artist adopts Warhol's signature screen-printing technique to create a striking portrait of a punk iconEnglish bassist and vocalist Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. Vicious is suspended over a silver background, a clear reference to Warhol's iconic 'Double Elvis'. A reference made even more noteworthy when we consider that Elvis was as synonymous to classic rock as the young Vicious was to the 1970s punk movement. After all, love him or loathe him, Sid Vicious will always be the poster-boy of the late seventies punk scene.

What makes this artwork even more interesting is its provenance. The present painting was once in the collection of Steven A. Greenberg, the notorious wall street mogul and former owner of the Grammercy Hotel and Chelsea hotspot, the Roxy. (In fact, the artwork even bears the inscription by Sprouse, 'for Steven thanks 4 everything'). It was one of a small series of unique paintings by Sprouse, based on the famous image by photographer Roberta Bayley of Sid Vicious in Baton Rouge. The source photograph was taken during the band's ill-fated USA tour in 1978. A tour which ended with the band splitting up, and ultimately led to the infamous murder of Nancy Spungen at the Chelsea Hotel, on 12^th October of that same year.

Prior to his untimely death in 2004, there was a resurgence of interest in Stephen Sprouse. He famously collaborated with Louis Vuitton in 2001, and works from the present artwork's series were included in the exhibition 'Rock on Mars' at Deitch Projects, New York, in 2009.

Please note, this artwork ships from the United States. Please contact the department for more information.