DAVID BAILEY

David Bailey is internationally celebrated for his iconic fashion photography and portraiture, particularly his role in capturing the spirit of Swinging London in the 1960s. Best known for his striking images of cultural icons such as Mick Jagger, Kate Moss, and the Kray twins, Bailey began his career in 1959 as a photographic assistant at the John French studio before being contracted by Vogue in 1960. Since then, he has worked prolifically across celebrity media, contributing to numerous magazines and newspapers, including a notable series of portraits of leading figures from the British art scene for GQ.

Bailey describes himself as a "maker of images" and resists the traditional boundaries between artistic disciplines. His creativity extends far beyond photography, embracing film, painting, and sculpture with the same fearless energy. Like one of his early influences, Picasso, Bailey’s work rejects artistic conformity. His totemic sculptures reflect an intuitive blend of tribal art and surrealist humour, often incorporating found objects with wry wit. Works such as Dead Andy—in which the unmistakable head of Andy Warhol rises from a can of baked beans—and Dodo, a creature with a watering can for a head perched on spindly legs, exemplify his playful, irreverent approach.

“I’m not saying I’m a sculptor,” Bailey insists. “I just make images. I don’t take photographs, I make them. And now I’m making something else.”

Through every medium, Bailey continues to surprise, provoke, and inspire — always making, always pushing the image forward.