Dawsons to offer Simon Henwood paintings in June sale

Dawsons Auctioneers are to include an Exclusive Collection of Simon Henwood Artworks within The June Fine Art & Antiques Auction. With a distinctive style characterized by its innovative fusion of pop culture, narrative storytelling, and striking visual elements, and a career covering over three decades, Henwood has left a lasting mark on the contemporary art world and has become a sought-after name among collectors and connoisseurs.

The British muti-disciplinary artist is perhaps best known for directing Kanye West's "Love Lockdown", nominated for several categories at the MTV Video Music Awards. The artist is also an acclaimed creative director, responsible for one of most dramatic artistic reinventions in recent pop history: Rihanna‘s Rated R campaign, as well as collaborating with other big names such as Kylie Minogue, Roisin Murphy, Imogen Heap, The Badly Drawn Boy and Devendra Banhart. 

^{Simon Henwood, untitled - girl in a studied collar and white t-shirt. Estimate £1,000-£1,500}

With such a unique breadth working between multiple media platforms such as paintings, film, photography, and video stills, Henwood’s art has been globally exhibited, being presented at the MOMA (NYC), ICA (London), UCLA Hammer Museum (LA) and Galerie Sophie Sheideker (Paris) in a double exhibition with Francis Bacon where the artist exhibited eighteen oil paintings. While the prolific artist is famed for his high-profile celebrity collaborations, Henwood views his own paintings in a different light. In an interview, he describes the process of painting as a ‘huge investment’, and that such an isolated process which can take months to paint, all comes solely from him.

^{Simon Henwood (b. 1965), 'Henry (and Kylie), Age 17, 2014'. Estimate £1,500-£2,000}

Within their upcoming June sale, Dawsons are excited to present fifteen paintings from Henwood’s oeuvre, which showcase the artist’s renowned and striking style of painting. The most obvious themes running through Henwood's artistic career is childhood adolescence. Over the last dozen years, although fluidly moving among different mediums, his gouache portraits, which have been shown recently at the ICA in London, Browyn Keenan Gallery in New York, and Richard Heller Gallery in Santa Monica, are fresh and powerful studies. Richly textured gouache portraits all with clean white backdrops accentuate the shark-eyed gaze of youth, revealing the pain, beauty, and vulnerability of childhood and adolescence.

^{Simon Henwood (b.1965), 'Ion, age 13'. Estimate £800-£1,200}

Two highlight paintings of this style in the upcoming June sale are the portraits – ‘Ion, age 13’ and ‘Henry (and Kylie), age 17’, both of which showcase this body of work exhibited. Having strong presence and recognisable style across many art disciplines globally, the fifteen paintings coming up for auction at Dawsons represents a unique opportunity for art collectors and enthusiasts to acquire pieces from one of the most influential and visionary contemporary artists.

The full sale catalogue featuring the exclusive collection will be available to view online shortly. 

For further information please contact us on 0207 431 9445 or email Matthew Coles on matthew@dawsonsauctions.co.uk