Destination Unknown (Top Gun) | Mark Davies

Destination Unknown, a limited edition giclee print on paper by storytelling artist Mark Davies based on the ultimate Tom Cruise film, Top Gun. From the 2020 'Lost In Hollywood 3' collection.

The aim for this piece was to try and combine two qualities, one was to create something that was that ‘need for speed’ concept where it was all about the planes, the car, the bike but then also the sheer beauty of the backdrop. So the idea being when you’re doing your research of the film plus being aware of the fact that the follow up ‘Maverick’ is due out this year (hopefully), you are looking at the concept that the US Navy air base ‘Miramar’ is now redundant and laying there derelict and weathered which is something that goes back to the ‘Storyteller’ collections of mine where you’re embracing that sense of neglect and time passing.So that’s what we see here, Maverick has returned, he’s come back on his iconic motorbike and this is where the piece took a different turn. I have injected this underlying narrative that plays on the fact that he lost his flying partner ‘Goose’ but also the ghosts that he carries with him from his father and that’s referenced within the piece, you’ll see his dad’s crashed plane for example along with another that was fighting in Vietnam.

If you look closely at the bike, you’ll see ‘Goose’s’ partially destroyed crash helmet, so Maverick is literally carrying his ghosts around with him, as well as his baggage which is depicted through his flight holdall which is carrying all of all of his memories around with him. On first glance it just looks like a cracking way of being able to get all of those movie references in it but then there’s this underlying concept that’s much deeper and hopefully people will relate to that even if they aren’t necessarily a massive fan of the film but that the image and what it symbolises strikes a chord with them.

I’ve tried to create pictures within a picture, so if you look at Charlie’s Porsche for example, it’s just a beautiful part of the image and I absolutely love how that’s come out. When you’re watching the film and making notes it’s great to be able to get those references in there, big or small and there’s so much going on because that’s the concept, it’s him returning and all of his memories flooding back and being played out in front of him. He knows he has to go on a journey, he’s just not sure where it’s going to take him. It’s been brilliant to be involved with the piece, listening to the epic soundtrack again, it’s just been superb from day one!