Unique Eternal Queen (Cardinal Red)

Set against a vibrant cardinal red background, Bradley Theodore’s Unique Eternal Queen encapsulates the artist’s complex, textured painting style by overlaying gestural acrylic strokes on his Eternal Queen edition. Almost a wholly hand-painted surface, bursts of colour communicate with one another to enhance the multiple layers of the relief printing process. Unique Eternal Queen is part of an ongoing series by the artist, depicting royalty from both past and present. Coinciding with King Charles III’s coronation, this edition explores the iconography of monarchy, representing the queen in profile (as was seen on the English stamp) wearing the Diamond Diadem. Theodore is widely recognised for his street murals of figures from fashion royalty, most notably skeletal depictions of Anna Wintour and the late Karl Lagerfeld. He depicts the Queen in the same expressive, graphic style, using highly saturated pigments while hinting at her skeleton underneath; a recurring theme in Theodore’s works through which he intends to “portray the energy, individuality and soul of the person.”

Theodore says, “I can’t explain my fascination with Her Majesty. Maybe it’s because I was born in Turks & Caicos (which is part of the Commonwealth), but her status as an icon feels like it’s always been present in my life. Perhaps it’s the rich relationship between art and royalty, or royalty and fashion, or some amalgamation of all those things, but I find her to be an endless source of fascination and inspiration.”