An East End lad who studied at the Royal College of Art, G.D.S.Cline was an unlikely candidate for the lifestyle of dark and bloody passions. Having moved to Italy with first lover Eric Hebborn, the notorious art forger, he eventually returned to London and gained recognition as a fabric designer. Here he met his great love, John Kenneth Elliker, and moved to California, setting up home in Laguna Beach and then San Diego. It was not until after John’s death that Graham found himself free to enjoy his own consensual theatre of blood, pain and submission for the first time in his life.
Cast in the infamous cult film “Hustler White” by friend Rick Castro, Graham indulged in this own secret performance art of rope, blades and cigarette burns. California provided a stream of eager dominants - Camp Pendleton marines, surfers, leathermen, jocks, freaks and rent boys, all eager to explore their many dark compulsions. The “California Dreaming” exhibition brings back his memories of blue skies, brown rolling hills, golden sands, red poppies, and Southern California landscapes of bruising, scat, piss and blood.
Fascinated by depictions of the Dance of Death, from the medieval European to the nineteenth century, Graham draws inspiration from the great Mexican artist Posada. Difficult and challenging, his art stops the viewer in his tracks. The tableaux frozen as if in the split second flash of a strobe light, with the ever-present, ubiquitous Death sometimes in attendance. The Fool, often priapic, mocks our pretensions and lusts, yet needs but little encouragement to join in the games. An amalgam of experience and of Dionysian myth, a celebration of life, of dominance, and the sheer ecstasy of submission.
Graham’s autobiography, tellingly entitled “Celebration” was published in 1996 to great reviews. He has also exhibited in group shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and in one-man shows in the Rita Dean Museum of Death gallery in San Diego.
Prints and originals are available for sale, as is GDS Cline’s handmade LA Cuts Zine’s.
For artist interview and images visit http://www.whatsyours.com/host/php/index.php?whsmodule=exhibition/user&ex;=20
Please leave comments/messages here for Graham, he checks in regular and loves to make friends with people who love his work…
