BRANKOPOPOVICBLOG: Retrospective David Bowie is in the Groninger Museum

Album cover shoot for Aladdin Sane, 1973
Photo Duffy
-® The David Bowie Archive and (under license from Chris Duffy)
Duffy Archive Limited.

Singer David Bowie, one of the most influential musicians of his era, has died of cancer at the age of 69.
The sad news spread out through the world rapidly, showing the greatness of music and art and its influence.
The singer, who had been living in New York in recent years, released his latest album Blackstar only last Friday, his birthday.
The album has been well received by critics and was intended as a "parting gift" to the world, according to long-time friend and producer Tony Visconti. Visconti wrote on Facebook: "His death was no different from his life - a work of art."

Retrospective David Bowie is in the Groninger Museum

From today the Retrospective 'David Bowie is' that is on show at the Groninger Museum is having a whole new meaning. On January 1st I visited the Groninger Museum especially to see this bespoke and enlightening exhibition.

After nearly three years and seven metropolises, the David Bowie exhibition has landed in Groningen. With David Bowie is, the Groninger Museum presents an overview of the extraordinary career of David Bowie, one of the most pioneering and influential artists of our time. More than one million people have already seen the multimedia exhibition that started out in London and subsequently went on tour to Toronto, São Paulo, Berlin, Chicago, Paris and Melbourne. Until further notice, Groningen is the last opportunity to visit David Bowie is.

Andreas Blühm, director of the Groninger Museum, is extremely pleased to welcome the record-breaking exhibition, which was curated by London’s V&A Museum. “Being able to share this unique experience with our visitors makes me very happy. This is an exhibition that is imagination-boosting, not just for David Bowie fans, but for the wider public. Bowie’s pioneering ‘fusion’ of music, fashion, design and contemporary art perfectly matches the Groninger Museum.”

Striped bodysuit for Aladdin Sane tour, 1973
Design by Kansai Yamamoto
Photograph by Masayoshi Sukita
-® Sukita The David Bowie Archive 2012

The exhibition shows the development and impact of Bowie’s music, his spectacular stage shows, his ground-breaking music videos, daring costumes and the accompanying iconic graphic work. It shows how his work influenced and was influenced by a wide variety of movements in art, design, theatre and contemporary culture.
Rare Materials from David Bowie’s Personal Archive Bowie kept handwritten lyrics, original costumes, fashion pieces, photographic work, set designs, instruments and album illustrations. These rare materials have been selected from the David Bowie Archive by Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh, the theatre and performance curators of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
More than 300 objects from the Archive were brought together in this set-up for the very first time. Together with films and music videos, the exhibition offers visitors a unique first-time look at materials from every phase of David Bowie’s career – spanning almost 50 years – that have never been exhibited before. It paints a picture of the culture of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that will not only appeal to fans of David Bowie, but is interesting to a much wider target group.
Why the Groninger Museum?
The Groninger Museum is known as a spectacular location for high-profile, ground-breaking exhibitions. Musical exhibitions about (music) photographer Anton Corbijn (2000) and singers Herman Brood (2006) and Marilyn Manson (2014) and especially exhibitions in the field of avant-garde fashion and design make the museum the logical venue to host David Bowie is.
Multimedia Exhibition
The show presents Bowie’s work and performances by a large variety of exhibition techniques, including interactive displays and compelling audio-visual installations. The multimedia and headsets for the exhibition are provided by Sennheiser. Online Booking

David Bowie is is on show at the Groninger Museum from 11 December 2015 until 13 March 2016. Tickets are available at http://www.davidbowie-groningen.nl/?lang=en.