Sara Captain is a British artist whose primary subject is David Bowie. She’s had numerous exhibitions and sells her work for upward of £2000. You can see her work— and buy it at her website, which is here.

I thought I’d let the art speak for itself so I included some images from her website above. Captain describes Bowie as her muse, and in her story she writes of how his death inspired her to return to painting. To me, this is another example of Bowie transcending the status of a singer into the realm of cultural phenomena. If you think about it, what makes these paintings (and charcoal drawings) beautiful has little to do with Bowie’s own art. You can’t hear him through these paintings. You can’t watch him act. Even his clothing is de-emphasized as most of these paintings focus on Bowie’s face. Nonetheless, the subject matter is very much part of what makes the art compelling. Captain’s website includes some non-Bowie pictures, but clearly she has fused her artistic identity with Bowie’s.

It’s easy to forget that he had ceased being cool 30 years ago.