The much lauded David Bowie Is exhibit will come to the AGO this September!

David Bowie Is Exhibit AGO
Photograph by Masayoshi Sukita
David Bowie Is Exhibit AGO
Photograph by Masayoshi Sukita

David Bowie is, the widely publicized multi-media exhibit on pop culture icon David Bowie will soon be leaving its current home at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and heading on a much anticipated world tour. First stop, Toronto! That’s right, come September The Art Gallery of Ontario will be welcoming the exhibit complete with its 300 objects from the legendary British artist’s personal archive.

Bowie, who is known for his genre-defying music is one of the industry’s finest performance artists, having experimented with everything from surrealism to mime. The British sensation, dubbed the culture chameleon, maintains a personal archive of more that 75,000 objects. Archivists and curators from the Victoria and Albert Museum were given full access to explore and pick the items for display.

Recognized for his radical fashion sense and powerful influence on art and design, audiences can expect to see some of the most memorable costumes and objects from Bowie’s long career. Fifty stage get-ups, including the celebrated Ziggy Stardust bodysuits, will be combined with a selection of music videos, set designs, photographs (namely by Helmut Newton, Brian Duggy and John Rowlands) and album artwork for the exhibit. The experience promises to expose Bowie’s collaborations in the fields of fashion, sound, theatre, art and film. On a more personal level, the exhibit will also display Bowie’s own handwritten set lists, lyrics, diary entries, instruments and sketches.

The AGO’s director and CEO Matthew Teitelbaum has commented on the exciting announcement saying the exhibit is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate a living artist whose radical artfulness of identity has had an enormous influence on art, design and contemporary culture as we know it.” Following the huge success of Patti Smith’s current Camera Solo exhibit at the AGO, we can only help the icon exhibits keep on coming.

David Bowie is opens on Sept. 25, 2013 and runs to Nov. 27, 2013, giving Toronto two full months to live the experience. For more information, visit ago.net.

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