MICHAEL MOEBIUS
Moebius takes the visual language of celebrity and turns it into something oddly intimate: immaculate portraiture, familiar faces — and a single bubble that blocks the expected story.
About
Michael Moebius is a German pop-art painter whose practice blends classical draughtsmanship with contemporary culture. Working with a hyper-real finish, he reimagines well-known figures as portraits that feel both polished and slightly disruptive — a conversation between glamour, memory, and modern image-making.
The work doesn’t try to “explain” the icon. It pauses it — swaps certainty for humour — and lets the viewer decide what the bubble is hiding: identity, myth, or just the pressure of being seen.
Signature style
Why collectors love Moebius
Moebius works hit that sweet spot: instantly recognisable imagery (so they land in a room immediately), and enough wit/attitude to keep them from feeling like fan-art. They’re bold, slick, and quietly subversive — the kind of pieces that start conversations without trying too hard.
Available works
Shop Michael Moebius currently available at Indelible Fine Art.
Aladdin Sane
In a legal dispute that played out in the Berlin Federal Court, photographer Gavin Evans accused Moebius of infringing on his 1995 portrait of Bowie from The Session series. Evans initially pursued a case against Maddox Gallery, where Moebius’ work had been exhibited, before turning his legal focus directly on the artist. However, Moebius successfully defended his creation, with a three-judge panel ruling in his favour, stating that his painting was transformative and did not infringe upon Evans’ work. The ruling not only reinforced Moebius' artistic independence but also highlighted the ongoing tension between photography and reinterpretation in contemporary art.
Despite the legal battle, Aladdin Sane remains a testament to Bowie’s legacy—a fusion of rock ‘n’ roll mythology and modern-day pop culture. Moebius masterfully captures the Starman’s ability to transcend time, embodying both nostalgia and reinvention in a single, unforgettable image.
Michael Moebius' Aladdin Sane is a striking black-and-white portrait of David Bowie, infused with a contemporary pop twist. The legendary musician is depicted with his signature intensity, his monochrome face contrasted by a vivid pink bubble gum—a playful yet rebellious nod to his ever-evolving personas. Moebius' hyper-realistic technique captures Bowie’s defining features, including his famously mismatched eyes. While many believed he had heterochromia, his striking gaze was actually the result of a permanently dilated pupil from a teenage fight, adding an eerie, otherworldly quality to his image.
A gold lightning bolt necklace rests against his chest, referencing the iconic Aladdin Sane album cover, where Brian Duffy’s legendary photograph immortalized Bowie with a painted bolt slicing across his face. However, this artwork’s journey extended beyond artistic homage—it became the centre of a high-profile copyright battle.
All you need is gum
Michael Moebius’ All You Need Is Gum offers a sepia-toned, nostalgic reimagining of The Beatles, capturing them in their early years before the psychedelic revolution of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Dressed in their signature suits, ties, and crisp shirts, the Fab Four exude the clean-cut charm that defined their early career. But Moebius adds his signature twist—each Beatle has a large bubble gum balloon obscuring their mouth, playfully disrupting the seriousness of their polished image.
This visual contrast between the classic and the contemporary is a hallmark of Moebius' work. The sepia palette evokes a sense of history, a nod to the countless black-and-white photographs that documented The Beatles' rise to fame. Yet, the absurdity of the bubble gum injects a modern, rebellious energy, mirroring the band's own evolution from well-mannered pop stars to experimental rock icons who constantly defied expectations.
Like his other works featuring cultural legends, All You Need Is Gum blends homage with transformation, a creative approach that has sparked legal disputes in Moebius' career.