David Bowie’s Striking Legacy as a Painter: His Iggy Pop and Beyond

By now you’ve heard that legendary musician David Bowie died on Sunday after an 18-month battle with cancer — a huge surprise, as the star’s newest and now final album, Blackstar, was released on Friday to coincide with his 69th birthday.

To the man who was Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, and much, much more: You’ll be sorely missed by the world at large, but also by the maker community.

Bowie was a musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger, painter, and actor. He was a maker in the truest sense — especially through his deep relationship with visual art. He was a rocker, yes, but an art school-trained one who produced paintings, sketches, sculptures, and photography.

Creating visual art helped him create better music, he told the New York Times in 1998.

“If I had some creative obstacle in the music that I was working on, I would often revert to drawing it out or painting it out. Somehow the act of trying to recreate the structure of the music in paint or in drawing would produce a breakthrough,” the artist said.

In addition to his 25 studio albums, 21 movie roles, and countless collaborations, Bowie had several solo art shows, contributed work to competitions and exhibitions, and created several one-off installations. (Bowie Wonderworld has an extensive list of his exhibitions.)

We’ve pulled together some examples of Bowie’s visual art — and, oh, there’s so much! — as a tribute to the artist, and also included a few particularly stellar tributes from other artists and makers who were inspired by the Starman.

This, makers, is the reason we create art: It will be protected and passed, hand to hand, by those who love it. Even after we’re gone.

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