The pop-up exhibition based on David Bowie’s career has opened on Heddon Street in London, in celebration of what would have been his 75th birthday on 8th January.
David Bowie sadly passed away on 10th January 2016, the influential artist losing his battle with liver cancer and he died two days after his 69th birthday.
The location chosen is where the cover of the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, and The Spiders from Mars was shot back in 1972.
‘Art Is Creation’
As you walk in, you can see the different merchandise you can purchase from t-shirts, rucksacks, puzzles, mugs, books, pin badges and vinyls.
There is a replica of the telephone box used on the album cover of Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, in which you can walk into and press numbers one to three to hear David’s previous interviews about his music and the inspiration behind it.
Bowie said he was a believer that art is not a competition but creation, and expression, questioning that music being displayed in galleries adversely affected the public’s mind to interpret its real meaning.
In one of the corners, they had a DJ booth with different vinyls that you could put on and listen to through some headphones. The mix was from Bowie’s albums and other artists such as The Pet Shop Boys.
On the front of the booth, it said ‘I am a DJ I am what I play’
On the other side, there was a screen showing clips of performances Bowie had done over the years, along with music videos for songs such as Life on Mars.
The exhibition is described as ‘part-shop and ‘part exhibition’ since there is a discography wall of a total of 28 albums ranging from 1967 to 2016 with different photos on display of Bowie that you could look at and buy.
Downstairs there is a room in which you can experience David Bowie’s music in 360 reality audios. As I walked in Starman is playing around the room, and it feels almost like he is performing on stage in front of me.
A similar pop-up exhibition opened in New York City, and both locations opened 75 days before what would have been the singer’s 75th birthday – and will remain open until late January 2022.