Artist Mark Wardel is often defined by the distinctive portraits of his famous and fabulous friends he’s been painting since circa 1978 and for unearthing a 1974 cast of David Bowie’s face he used to create his much coveted Bowie Masks. An 80s club kid who wore head to toe Antony Price and was immersed in the British rocker (leather) style that had a major resurgence in 1979 and into the 80s.
Questions by Bridget Veal Carroll
Q. Mark, we were first introduced at an event at the BFI (British Film Institute), what would you say are your top 5 leather looks in film?
A. The big bang moment of the leather in movies universe has to be Brando in 'The Wild One' then of course there's Kenneth Anger's 'Scorpio Rising' then there's a fabulous British spin on the biker look in 'The Leather Boys' which always puts me in mind of my sadly missed friend Johnny Stuart as stills from this film almost look like scenes from his life or shots from his legendary photo albums. Apart from traditional Rocker leather I'm a sucker for 1970s gangster movie leather coats and bomber jackets as epitomised by some of the great costumes in 'Donnie Brasco'....oh and any leather in the Warhol films!
Q. There’s a fantastic photo of you in full leather on a motorcycle, styled and taken by the legendary leather wearing ‘Rocker’ Johnny Stuart. How did this photo come to be?
A. I was introduced to Johnny by Steve Strange in 1979 and really hit it off with him and his partner Eddie. Johnny knew everyone from aristocrats to rockers to bike boys to Blitz kids and gave the best parties at his amazing art and antiques filled Notting Hill house. Me and the likes of Steve Strange and other friends would often hang out at Johnny's and end up being photographed in some of his massive collection of biker gear. Btw, any pop video of the era featuring leather rocker gear and you can guarantee it will have come from Johnnys!
Mark Wardel, photo by Johnny Stuart.
Q. Dave and I have a print of your ‘Leatherman by TradeMark’ artwork in our office, an artwork we feel honoured to own and that captures a glamourised version of a rocker/ biker. What inspired you to create this piece?
A.Thank you. This image stems from one of my most popular flyer artworks. Back in the '90s I was producing artwork/imagery, flyers and ads for the big London gay nights at Heaven, Trade, Village Youth etc. and the 'Leather Man' has long been an icon of the gay world so I decided to create a Leatherman/high fashion fusion as a kind of updated icon for the 'scene'.
Q. The London Leatherman label was officially founded in the early 70s, it’s core styling being a fusion of a new British leather look and the clone look (with tight cire cap sleeved T-shirts) that was coming out of New York at the time. You’ve been interviewed on the ‘Clone Look’ before, how would you sum up the British version of the ‘Clone Look’ to anyone who’s wondering what it is?
A. Is there a defined 'clone' look these days? I'm not sure! The late 70s/early 80s clone look was a definite gay sub-culture movement influenced by the scenes in San Francisco and New York and was really a kind of 'Butch Drag' version of hyper masculinity...this look spread to London and I remember being at the opening of Heaven in '79 being amazed to see a sea of guys all with crew cuts, moustaches, tight T-shirts, check shirts, Levis and work boots partying like there was no tomorrow beneath the lasers…the clones. Everything today is such a post modern remix of elements from the past and subcultures are not as rigidly defined as they were so the term really has a different meaning now.
Q. Do you have any favourite The London Leatherman pieces from the archive or new, you own or hope to own, that spring to mind?
A. I already own several The London Leatherman T-shirts which I totally love and always get asked about whenever I wear one ...which is frequently. I'm a sucker for hats and currently have my eye on some of the great LLM caps such as the Teddy Boy and the Speedway cap.
Q. What looks better a leather jacket, a pair of leather trousers or both worn together?
A. Unless you are a genuine Biker/Rocker or heading to a Leather fetish club I believe it's best to go with either one or the other and personally, I like a black leather Biker jacket with tight blue jeans...a classic look.
Q. You’re everyone’s go to when they have a questions about David Bowie or looking to cross check anything Bowie!? He’s been a huge influence on your work and your self-styling over the years, where does your Bowie story begin?
A. I only really know about '70s Bowie who I discovered age 14 in the summer of 1972 but went on to have the honour amazingly to meet, sell work to and even be the recipient of a 1979 hand written letter from!! I'm from a seaside town...New Brighton near Liverpool (where the pre-fame Beatles played many times) and every school holiday I'd have summer jobs either on the Pier or in the arcades ...it was all very a ‘That'll be the day' existence . One day in summer of '72 on a break from selling rock and buckets and spades I went across to the tea stall to get a cuppa and at the stall waiting for coffees were two of the teddy boys from the fair and one was telling his mate about an outrageous gig he'd just been to at the Liverpool stadium in which the singer who was "half man-half woman" wore make-up and space suits on stage! This all sounded amazing and I eavesdropped long enough to catch the singers name...David Bowie. I had heard and liked Starman on the radio and loved it (being into both pop music and UFOs ) but had no idea of who the singer was so that lunch break I ran out to the news agent and bought a couple of pop magazines and came face to face with Ziggy Stardust the coolest, strangest and most amazing alien/human I had ever seen and apparently also gay! ...finally a role model I could identify with being fairly alienated myself as an orphan just coming to terms with being gay ...my world and my direction in life totally changed that day and Bowie has been the major influence and cultural education on all areas of my life and work ever since.
A Mark Wardel ‘Aladdin Sane’ Bowie Mask. You can view these much coveted masks here: Masks & 3D – Mark Wardel
Q. Of the hundreds of portraits you’ve created, who would be your top five sitters so far and why? (I realise this is like asking a mother to pick a favourite child!)
A. I couldn't possibly answer that one...I'd have to leave town!
Q. What are you working on in your studio at the moment, anything you can talk about?
A. I have mainly spent the last couple of years working on Bowie artworks for a book I have co-written with US writer Susan Compo about the making of the iconic Bowie rockumentary 'Cracked actor' . We had access to the original 1975 BBC production file and also the film's original producer Alan Yentob who has written the foreword to the book. We also conducted interviews with many of the people involved in the film. The book is called 'David Bowie and Cracked actor-The Fly In The Milk' and is due out in September on Red Planet Books. Apart from that I am still produciing club artwork imagery most notably for the Glitterbox global party brand. There will also hopefully be a long delayed Mark Wardel gallery show at some point in the near future.
Contemporary Art by Mark Wardel aka Trademark – TrashDNA (trash-dna.myshopify.com)