LONDON (AFP) ― London’s Victoria and Albert Museum will celebrate the career of outlandish British pop icon David Bowie with an exhibition in March, it was announced on Tuesday.
The vast museum will display handwritten lyrics, set designs, more than 60 original costumes, photographs and instruments used by the 65-year-old performer.
Among the outfits on show will be the 1972 bodysuits worn by Bowie’s alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, the striped bodysuit used during the 1973 Aladdin Sane tour and a Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen.
“David Bowie is a true icon, more relevant to popular culture now than ever,” said V&A director Martin Roth.
“His radical innovations across music, theatre, fashion and style still resound today in design and visual culture and he continues to inspire artists and designers throughout the world.”
It will be the first time that the David Bowie archive has been displayed in a museum, but the rocker, real name David Jones, last week denied he was involved in curating the show.
“Contrary to recently published reports relating to the announcement by the V&A of an upcoming David Bowie Exhibition, I am not a co-curator and did not participate in any decisions relating to the exhibition,” he said in a statement.
“The David Bowie Archive gave unprecedented access to the V&A and (the) museum’s curators have made all curatorial and design choices.”
Bowie’s androgynous style and outrageous costumes shook up the world of rock ‘n’ roll and catapulted him to worldwide stardom, selling an estimated 140 million albums over a career spanning almost 50 years.
