After appearing at various museums around the world since 2013, the much-loved David Bowie is exhibition is coming to the Brooklyn Museum next year. The critically acclaimed exhibit will be on view from March 2nd to July 15th, 2018, as the final stop on its world tour, which was originally organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
The exhibit features more than 300 objects collected from David Bowie's teenage years through his death in 2016, including handwritten lyrics, original costumes, photography, set designs, album artwork, and rare performance material. Chicagoist got to see the show in 2014 (it was the most popular show ever at the Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago), and wrote that it wasn't a simple retrospective or history lesson:
"By diving deep into David Bowie is, one extrudes a biography of the man that has previously never quite been captured in book or film. But it's not a narrative that simply leaps out at you. It's one that insists you submerge yourself in the exhibit and abandon preconceptions of simply undergoing a history lesson...It's just you and another person's artistic journey, which means when you emerge from the other end the rush of sound and light around you makes you feel that for the past hour or so you've been in an alien environment."
(Installation view, David Bowie Is, MCA Chicago. September 23, 2014 - January 4, 2015. Photo: Nathan Keay, © The David Bowie Archive. Courtesy of the MCA Chicago.)
In a press release, the museum notes that this final exhibition will include never-before-seen objects and work exclusive to the Brooklyn Museum presentation. Here's a description of just some of the items that will be in there:
The exhibition explores the broad range of Bowie's collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theater, art, and film. On display are more than 60 stage costumes including Ziggy Stardust bodysuits (1972) designed by Freddie Burretti, Kansai Yamamoto's flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane tour (1973), and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the EART HL I NG album cover (1997). Also on show is photography by Brian Duffy, Terry O'Neill, and Masayoshi Sukita; album sleeve artwork by Guy Peellaert and Edward Bell; cover proofs by Barnbrook for the album The Next Day (2013); visual excerpts from films and live performances including The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and Saturday Night Live (1979); music videos such as "Boys Keep Swinging" (1979) and "Let's Dance" (1983); and set designs created for the Diamond Dogs tour (1974).
Alongside these are more personal items such as never-before-shown storyboards, handwritten set lists and lyrics as well as some of Bowie's own sketches, musical scores, and diary entries, revealing the evolution of his creative ideas.
"Since David Bowie is left the V&A, London in August 2013, nearly 1.8 million visitors have flocked to see the exhibition as it has travelled around the world, a testament to Bowie's depth, breadth and worldwide reach and the public's interest in the processes of creation behind such a uniquely influential performer," said Victoria Broackes, curator at the V&A. "Bowie himself left England in 1974 to eventually settle in America, so we could not be more delighted that the final leg of the tour brings the show back to New York, where Bowie made his home."
Lightning Bolt tickets, which give attendees priority access to the exhibition, are available now through the run of the exhibition and cost $35. Exclusive packages start at $85. Member tickets will be available on November 8th, which tickets to the general public go on sale November 15th. Get more ticket information here.
(Installation view, David Bowie Is, MCA Chicago. September 23, 2014 - January 4, 2015. Photo: Nathan Keay, © The David Bowie Archive. Courtesy of the MCA Chicago.)
