Beatles to Bowie ~ The 60's Exposed at the National Portrait Gallery |
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| Written by Phillyis Danforth |
| Friday, 16 October 2009 02:37 |
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The exhibition includes classic images - as well as over 100 previously unseen or unexhibited ones - of groups such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who and early portraits of singers such as Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, Marianne Faithfull, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie. "Beatles to Bowie: the 60s" exposed will illustrate how image, music, fashion and performance combined to make these musicians the leading icons of their time and London the world's most important cultural capital.  The essential rivalry of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones is played
out visually by a variety of top photographers who helped create and endorse
their changing images. Younger photographers such as Fiona Adams and Philip
Townsend also feature as the exhibition explores how they took over from
established masters of earlier eras such as Cecil Beaton and Norman Parkinson,
who themselves continued to work during this period, re-energized by the
youthful spirit of the time. Early sections of the exhibition will include photographs of the hit groups from the early 1960s such as Gerry and The Pacemakers to the John Barry Seven whose signature Hit or Miss provided the introductory theme to Juke Box Jury, one of the many television programs that brought the new pop to a wider public. A series of 10 showcases will feature pop ephemera including pop magazines such as Fabulous and Rave and pictorial spreads from Town magazine showing Don McCullin's photo-essay on Marc Bolan as a Mod before he was famous and Norman Parkinson's pictures for Queen magazine in which Adam Faith demonstrated the Madison dance with top models (both in 1962). Other sections of the exhibition will be devoted to the mini-invasion of US stars who moved to England to start their careers such as P J Proby, the Walker Brothers and later Jimi Hendrix. The exhibition will show how female British singers not only created many pop classics but served as important role models, pioneering and promoting British fashion designers - such as Cilla Black and Lulu being dressed by the 21-year-old Caroline Charles and Sandie Shaw developing her own fashion lines.  "Beatles to Bowie: the
60s" exposed will also show how, as the decade progressed, pure pop was replaced
by progressive music and psychedelia by groups such as Pink Floyd. Visitors will
be able to see how Joe Meek's ‘Telstar' opened this extraordinary decade and how
man's first step on the moon led to the first hit record by David Bowie with
‘Space Oddity', paving the way for his domination, along with Marc Bolan, of
Glam Rock in the following decade. "Beatles to Bowie: the 60s" exposed is curated by the National Portrait Gallery's Curator of Photographs, Terence Pepper, whose previous exhibitions at the Gallery include the award-winning Vanity Fair Portraits, Angus McBean Portraits, Cecil Beaton Portraits and the display Beatles on the Balcony. Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, says: ‘Beatles to Bowie will show how in the 1960s, music changed the world - and how Britain's was the central axis of new popular culture.' Founded in 1856, the aim of the National Portrait Gallery, London is ‘to promote through the medium of portraits the appreciation and understanding of the men and women who have made and are making British history and culture, and ... to promote the appreciation and understanding of portraiture in all media’. The Gallery aims to bring history to life through its extensive display, exhibition, research, learning, outreach, publishing and digital programmes. These allow us to stimulate debate and to address questions of biography, diversity and fame which lie at the heart of issues of identity and achievement. The Gallery holds the most extensive collection of portraits in the world. The Collection is displayed in London and in a number of locations around the United Kingdom, including several houses managed by the National Trust. The Gallery is increasingly keen to find new ways to share the Collection through the National Programmes, as well as through this website. Visit : http://www.npg.org.uk/home.php Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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