REMEMBERING THE VISIONARY DAVID BOWIE
January 11th – January 29th, 2023
David Bowie is undoubtedly the king of personal invention in fashion. As a teenage milliner, as a hippie, as Ziggy Stardust, as Aladdin Sane, as Thin White Duke. Bowie has changed his style more radically than any other musician in history. His transformations caused cultural upheaval, was radically sexually ambiguous and universally desirable, changing the definition of what it means to be a popular rock star. For Bowie, clothing was a means of projecting self-expression, a powerful tool for communicating individuality in its most extreme, brilliant and creative form.
January is a significant month in honoring David Bowie. He was born on January 8, 1947 and died on January 10, 2016. This exhibition features newly released images of David Bowie by Terry O’Neill, in both photograph and contact sheet formats, exploring the range of expression the artist could convey even in the simplest of sets and costumes, capturing his artistry and magnetism. Terry O’Neill is famous for capturing the icons of the sixties and seventies in an unpretentious way, cutting to the core of their personalities, and Bowie is no exception. O’Neill began to shoot David Bowie in 1973 during his Ziggy Stardust tour. Bowie came onto set as a collaborator, with a clear idea of his image and how he wanted it to come through in the photographs. More than most other models, Bowie participated in the creation of his photographs by O’Neill, the images a fusion of two iconic creative talents.