War Child UK and Art on a Postcard announce Sound & Vision, a new and innovative fundraising exhibition in partnership with 180 Studios featuring 33 leading artists responding to one iconic David Bowie lyric – We Like Dancing and We Look Divine.

The lyric is taken from Rebel Rebel. 2024 also marks the 50th anniversary of Diamond Dogs, the album the iconic anthem featured on.

Top L-R –Original artworks by Ishbel Myerscough, Florence Reekie, Jullia Soboleva
Bottom L-R –Original artworks by Peter Messer, Nick Smith, Jonathan Schofield

George Underwood, the artist behind era-defining Bowie album covers like Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, as well as the first T. Rex album cover, has created new work for the exhibition. The characters from Bowie’s seminal 1980 Ashes to Ashes music video are also based on a 1969 painting George did for the back cover of David Bowie (the Space Oddity album).

George met David Bowie when he was just nine years old when they enrolled together for the 18th Bromley cubs. Later at school they started a band, however their musical partnership was short-lived when George punched David in a fight over a girl. This punch gave Bowie his unmistakeable mismatched eyes. Decades later, David was so moved by the angel sculptures George started making after the death of late Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson in 1993, he was quoted as saying “God, they made me cry!” George remained a lifelong friend of Bowie.

Bowie used his creativity to support War Child throughout his career. In 1994, Bowie, Brian Eno and Athena Eno curated ‘Little Pieces from Big Stars’ an exhibition raising funds for War Child. 30 years on, Little Pieces from Big Stars inspires this exciting new exhibition from War Child – kickstarting Sound & Vision, a new annual auction pairing contemporary artists with beloved musicians.

Curated by Art on a Postcard founder Gemma Peppé, Sound & Vision also features new work from Stuart Semple, National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award-winning painter Ishbel Myerscough, Harland Miller, Jonathan Schofield, and Andrew Pierre Hart who currently has a show at The Whitechapel Gallery. Other highlights come from Leo Costelloe, Julia Soboleva, Peter Messer and Joseph Dupré – an NHS doctor and artist whose art is collected by the likes of Wes Anderson and the family of late visual artist Alice Neel.

“Bowie was aware of not just the power of sound but also image – what you see – vision! Beyond making music Bowie also painted, not just on hotel mirrors, but that was the connection I made when I was asked to make a painting for this project.” – Harland Miller