After captivating audiences in London, Toronto, Berlin and São Paulo the David Bowie exhibition that debuted at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2013 is in its final days in at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Those who will be in or around the Chicago area have slightly over a week to catch the only American stop of David Bowie Is before it heads on to France at the Philharmonie de Paris.
MCA Chicago chief curator Michael Darling knew he wanted to bring the exhibition to Chicago as soon as he heard about plans for the V&A show. “I recognized how many of David Bowie’s concerns throughout his career are very similar to what artists are talking about these days, and even exhibitions that we’re working on, even ideas that are in culture about gender fluidity and idea fluidity,” said Darling.
More than 400 objects from Bowie’s career — costumes, photographs, album covers, handwritten lyrics and more — are on display. See the artist’s many transformations, from his ‘70s Ziggy Stardust bodysuits to the Union Jack jacket he designed with the late designer Alexander McQueen for his 1997 Earthling album cover And how does the Chicago iteration differ from the others? “We have the show all in one contiguous space,” said Darling. “Architecturally it’s going to feel a lot different from the other shows.”
Darling also remixed the show to highlight parts of Bowie’s six-decade career that would appeal more to American audiences, like, said Darling, “his Saturday Night Live appearance in 1979, I’m pulling that out as its own little section here. I’m also making it flow a little more chronologically.”
Expect long lines, plan ahead, and arrive early. Luckily, the museum anticipated the crowds, so it has extended its hours till 10pm for the exhibition's final weekend.
David Bowie Is runs through January 4, 2015 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
