Among the most poignant works in Rock & Royals is this original foresail used circa 1962 by President John F. Kennedy on his favourite yacht Manitou. We are almost certain that the sail in this archival photograph is the same sail and hanks displayed. JFK was a man whose passion for the sea was inseparable from his legacy. Carefully preserved in a sail bag for decades, this relic of American history was generously donated to the project by Jim Hartley, owner of Ratsey & Lapthorn (1790), the world's oldest sail loft, who made the sail in the 60s. Time has worn its canvas and faded its numbers, but rather than letting them disappear, I reimagined them through bold, modernist pop-art interpretations, reminiscent of Warhol’s depictions of Marilyn Monroe who sailed onboard with JFK. There is a famous photograph of Marilyn drinking champagne in a bubble bath onboard the yacht to this day. The images were meticulously printed by hand using archival pigments on another panel of the same sai, breathing new life into what was previously hidden, fragile and silent. Completing the work are the brass hanks, lifted directly from the sail and reinstated within a bespoke acrylic frame. These same hanks appear in the archival image - a powerful reminder that this artwork does not merely depict history, but contains it.