Artists & Designers: David Mabb

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

​Construct 72, after Kathleen Kersey (for Morris & Co.) Arbutus / Liubov Popova, textile design, acrylic on wallpaper mounted on canvas, 24cm x 24cm, 2023.
 
David Mabb is an artist and designer who, since 1999, has appropriated the wallpaper and textile designs of William Morris. Morris believed that interior design had a fundamental role to play in the transformation of everyday life. This essentially political motivation, a commitment to the radical potential of design, underpinned much of his work as a designer and craftsman and the establishment of Morris & Co.
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Variant 1, after William Morris ‘Trellis’ / Vavara Stepanova, ‘Optical’, paint on wallpaper mounted on canvas, 107cm x 107cm, 2006.
 
Mabb juxtaposes and intertwines Morris designs with those of Suprematist and Constructivist artists and designers associated with the context of the Russian Revolution, including Kazimir Malevich, Varvara Stepanova, Liubov Popova, Alexander Rodchenko and El Lissitzky. Through this dialectical approach, he produces paintings, montages, and installations, often subsequently repurposing these art works in designs for posters and book covers, repurposing and rethinking these appropriations for the future.
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​Mabb has exhibited his work internationally and is interested in sales, collaborations and commissions. He lives and works in Kent and was Reader in Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, until 2025.
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​Instagram: @david_mabb