Richard Hambleton

Private Collection, United States (acquired directly from the artist in 1982-83)

Acquired by descent from the above by the present owner

Shadowman, Anvil originally resided on the basement door of the infamous gay BDSM after-hours sex club The Anvil on West 14th Street in New York. A club that drew in celebrities, socialites and the height of New York society, the club frequently held discos, live performances, exhibitions and drag shows. During the 1980s the present work greeted party revelers and was protected by an iron gate; a night time emblem synonymous with live music, dancing and euphoria. The club closed its doors in 1986 just as New York was reaching the peak of the AIDS crisis and many of the most popular establishments in the City had to shut down.

Embodying Richard Hambleton’s fascination with anonymity, fear, and the urban experience, Shadowman, Anvil belongs to the artist’s career significant Shadowman series that presented his both playful and disconcerting explorations of psychological tension. While many of his Shadowmen are found in the alleyways of New York and other cities he worked in, the present work originates from the building Hambleton himself resided in - the Anvil. Invited to a party in the lower apartment, Hambleton not only attended, but also painted directly onto the wall, leaving his mark in the form of Shadowman, Anvil. Painted in 1982, the present work depicts a dark half-figure wielding an angled object, creating an eerie interaction for its viewers. Within Hambleton’s oeuvre, 1982 marked a prolific year; situated after he moved to New York in 1979 - where he worked in the same circles as Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat to build the city’s underground art scene - and before he left for Europe in the mid-1980s where his oeuvre would continue to grow.