David Vaughan was an influential British artist who defined the Swinging Sixties with his design team, B.E.V. They pioneered the use of bright, psychedelic colours and shapes on wall murals, cars, shop fronts and furniture from their base in Carnaby Street and boast a clientele which included The Beatles, The Kinks, Eric Clapton, Lord Snowden and even royalty.
He ran the now famous Roundhouse Theatre in London where he would put on light shows for which Paul McCartney created the ‘hidden Beatles track’ and signed Jimi Hendrix for his first UK gig. However he fell from a cradle whilst painting a wall mural and was unknowingly treated for his injuries with LSD. This had a profound effect on his mental state and he became aggressive, intimidating and held a hatred for making money and people who sought to make money.
The famous R D Laing treated him, but his relationships broke down and he moved back to Manchester where he spent the following 30 years as a virtual recluse, dedicating his life to community projects, until his death in 2003. Then a builder, employed to clear out the house, found many of his journals and letters in a household skip which give an intriguing insight into Vaughan and his relationships with the people around him. The builder knew immediately it was a person of great interest and he rescued as much as he could carry.
10 years after his death, his daugher Sadie Frost and the rest of the family hold a posthumous exhibition of his artwork and attempt to find peace with the memory of a father who had turbulent but magnetic relationships throughout their life. David Vaughan: Black on Canvas follows his family as they bid to hold this exhibition of his artwork to mark what would have been his 70th birthday.