It’s an echoing studio space, walls and floor dripped and smudged in every color. Canvases taller than the artist. Racks of aerosols and paint tins, pots of brushes and scalpels. But this isn’t your stereotypical artist’s loft in Shoreditch or SoHo. To reach David Gwyther’s studio you drive deep into his native South Wales. And then you keep on driving: cliffs and Celtic Sea to one side, wriggling hedges and grazing livestock on the other.

Another difference: the paintings are jostled by diverse motorbikes, a Land Rover and a snorting rally Mitsubishi. His uniquely decorated bike leathers, helmets and car panels hang from the walls. This automobilia isn’t competing for space with his art; it too is his art.

SUPERSPORTS AS AN ARTWORK
Gwyther’s art practice decorates and subverts and often repurposes these objects. He makes static pieces and also applies his art to clothing and dynamic machines. Death Spray Custom motifs are often macabre: skulls and bones and gothic imagery. They’re juxtaposed with the logos you find in motorsport liveries, or even luxury fashion labels.

This edgy artist was commissioned by Bentley for the Supersports collaboration. Was there a risk he’d have to tone things down for this commission? “I don’t compromise. I have a style and aesthetic. To get something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done. Bentley is doing a car it has never done.”

ILLUMINATING THE RATIONALE
From the start, Gwyther knew his design would have to surprise viewers. “People must say, ‘I thought I knew Bentley, but I don’t.’ That’s what the Supersports is and that’s what this represents.” Raising eyebrows just like the Full Send film.

Many artists shun explaining their work. But Gwyther is happy to discuss his creation. “When collaborating with a brand for the first time, you need to find a visual beat to hook into, to anchor something abstract to reality.” It didn’t take him long to alight on the “visual beat” he was searching for. It’s both a visual and tactile cue. “The diamond patterns throughout the car, the grille and stitching and knurling, have a kind of snake-scale effect. Only Bentley does that.” So, snakes provided the motif.

“I have this large black snake painting hanging in my studio. I thought yeah, that’s what this car should be. Something strong and a bit scary and unexpected, which led to that powerful looking stripe.”