Damian Elwes’ physical connection to artists and their studios was substantiated in 1982 when he was photographed by Andy Warhol, and later that year when Elwes met Keith Haring who encouraged the artist to start painting. His first paintings were exhibited alongside those of Basquiat by the London-based dealer Robert Fraser. In 2018, his solo exhibition at the Musée en Herbe in Paris attracted over 100,000 visitors.