Unmade Up: Recollections of a Friendship with David Bowie

by Edward Bell

The death of rock star David Bowie in 2016 continues to leave the music world and the hearts of his numerous fans with a dark void. To many, Bowie was a larger-than-life celebrity who seemed beyond mortality. And indeed, his legacy and influence thrives, and interest in all things Bowie has only grown in his afterlife.
 
In the 1980s, British artist Edward Bell worked closely with Bowie and provided the artwork for the album covers of Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) and Tin Machine II . Bowie later purchased all of Bell’s art for his private collection. In Unmade Up he offers an intimate look at their friendship and the art at the center of it.
 
Lushly illustrated in color throughout , Unmade Up includes original artwork and photographs, many of which have never been published. It is a fantastic celebration of Bowie’s unique style and vision, and it will be an essential book for every Bowie fan.
 

Genres: Music

108 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2017

Reviews

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit bothered with how this was released, together with an avalanche of Bowie material, in the year after his passing away and I don't know, but I do get the feeling that "friendship" is a bit of a stretch here. In the introduction and in selected sections, "my friend" is scattered liberally around and in the final section Bell notes that "in another life or another world, we could have been friends" (not verbatim, but I'm not doubling back to check). In reality, Bell created the artwork for Scary Monsters (1980) and then Tin Machine a decade+ later (after a "chance encounter").

Then there's the fact that Bell muses about how Bowie never authored a book, but now he's "ghost writing" this one. By this self-aggrandization logic, would that not mean he "co-authored" all the biographies (that ought to count in triple digits now)?

Apart from that, it's a nice enough book, basically filled with (very brief) anecdotes and graphics. I'm not sorry to have it or to have read it, but it's by no means a "must".

[Bettina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book today. There is not that much to read, but did enjoy it. It does feel a bit like a cash in on Bowie 's death. But the pictures and artwork are intriguing. Also what he says about Bowie.
So not bad at all, but I think you have to be a fan to really like it.
It's a good compenion for the Bowie/ Duffy book by Kevin Cann and Duffy. The Kevin Cann book has a lot more to offer. So i would start there.
The book by Edward Bell is aimed more at hardcore fans. 90% of the book is about Bowie 10% is other music related art.
Really liked what he wrote about Iman. 3.5 stars.