Meet The Awesome Artist Behind This David Bowie Window Light

By Rachel Cromidas in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 15, 2016 7:04PM

via artist Ben Zurwaski

In the days following the death of music and art icon David Bowie, one of the most poignant local tributes to him was a light-box of his face, circa the Ziggy Stardust days, in a North Center apartment window.

The portrait, which features Bowie's signature flaming orange hair and lightning bolt face-paint, was made in a frenzied day off work by Chicagoan Ben Zurawski, a 32-year-old artist who makes Chicago-themed window light-boxes and custom flipbook art as The Flippist.

"The morning I heard of his passing, I decided I would take a day off from work and make the sign. I just listened to his music all day and cobbled it together," he told Chicagoist. "It was cathartic. Figured Chicago could used a cool random Bowie beacon brightening up things a bit on that day as people returned home from work."

The Bowie sign is very DIY—it's made of posterboard, hot-glue, tracing paper, and leftover Christmas lights. Zurawski said he will likely keep the sign up for a few more weeks. He's pleased with the joy the sign seems to be bringing passersby.

"We've heard a good amount of chatter from the sidewalk below and have caused a few photo opps in the process," he said.

Though his artistic bread-and-butter is customized flip-books, many of which have gone viral, Zurawski's window lights are well-known in his neighborhood. On Halloween, for example, he put up two fake street signs that re-imagined North Center's Damen and Bell Plaine avenues as "Demon Avenue" and "Helle Paine." For Christmas, a "Merry Princemas" lightbox sign sparked a neighborhood singalong, in costume, to Prince tunes.

via artist Ben Zurwaski

Zurawski's got some even more eccentric bragging rights, too: After making and selling paper mache versions of Clocky from Pee-wee's Playhouse, Zurawski travelled to L.A. for a live stage performance of Pee-wee's Playhouse, during which Pee-wee himself helped Zurawski propose to his now-wife. He's also the proud owner of Dorkymetaldetecting.com, and a self-described dorky metal detector—a hobby he and his wife share, making them our new favorite couple.

"If anyone is interested in letting us detect your yard, give us a holler!" Zurawski told Chicagoist via email. "Find out the history in your yard and meet the WORLD FAMOUS WEIRD (but friendly) SIGN GUY! We don't make a mess, no cost, and of course you can keep anything we find if you want it."

But back to the Bowie sign. Here's a step-by-step guide to how it was made: