Bowie Odyssee - Collectors Troves
It’s undeniable that David Bowie is a cultural icon. With an artistic career that expanded for over five decades, his many artistic achievements included singing, composing, music playing, acting, and producing, aside from creating over a dozen different incarnations.
David Bowie was not only a master of versatility but also a true avant-garde, always ahead of his time. Fearless to try anything and everything, he remains up to this day a cultural referent of every decade he remained active, reason for which he has been the object of many retrospective exhibitions, the latest of which is being presented at the Theatre Le Palace in Paris.
Collectors are seldom given credit beyond being ‘fanatical hoarders of items’, and yet their collections often include pieces of exceptional value for their rarity and historical relevance.
Such is the case in this exhibition.
Presented for the first time in October of 2018 as part of the Rhino Jazz Festival, “Bowie Odyssee” (Bowie Odyssey) gathers the works of legendary photographer Mick Rock, and selected pieces from the vast collections of two professional Collectors: Jean-Charles Gautier , and Yves Garde.
Originally scheduled to open in May of this year, it had to delay its opening to July due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
The exhibit amasses more than a thousand different items, and include original photographs, a copy of Bowie’s birth certificate, LPs, 45 RPMs, Cassettes, DVDs, concert tickets, badges, promotional material, press kits, posters from films and concerts, special editions, music sheets, and memorabilia of all sorts covering Bowie's entire career, from his beginnings as mod singer in the early 1960's, all the way to "Black Star" in 2016.
Some of the most interesting original items exhibited are a one-dollar banknote issued with Bowie’s image (used in one of his concerts), a belt buckle from his 1983 ‘Serious Moonlight’ tour, and a Stylophone, an early electric musical instrument from the 1960s, now forgotten, which Bowie used in “Space Oddity”, his first commercial hit.
Music could not be away from an exhibition dedicated to a pop music icon, and a Jukebox is in charge of set the mood of the showcase, playing some of the most popular songs from this artist, extracted from his extensive discography.
The particularity of the venue – a former Theatre – also adds an interesting touch to this exhibit, reminding us Bowie’s beginnings as a mime and vaudeville performer, following the teachings of Lindsay Kemp.
On a cultural level, the exhibition offers a unique journey through time, permitting us to notice the different eras and their varied artistic expressions through iconography, graphic design, typography, the different types of marketing material used on each, and the artistic influences borrowed by Bowie at each stage of his lengthy career.
Although there have been other retrospective exhibits of Bowie’s work covering a wider range - notably, “Bowie Is...” of the Victoria & Albert Museum, which even traveled to different cities around the world- , the exhibition at Le Palais allow us to find rare and unique objects, which give account of the wide reach of the Bowie phenomenon around the world and through the years.
The exhibition will be open to the public daily through August 31st, and can be partially visited online at this link: http://www.bowie-odysee.com/index.php/portfolio-item-collections/
An unmissable event for all Bowie fans and all those interested in the history of popular culture.
Event: Bowie Odysee, 50 ans de fanmania (Bowie Odyssey, 50 years of fan-mania)
Venue: Le Théâtre le Palace
Address: 8 rue du Faubourg Montmartre, 75009 Paris
Dates: May 19th, 2021 - August 31st, 2021
Hours: Monday through Friday: 12:00 - 9:00 pm; Saturday: 10:00 am - 9:00 pm; Sunday: 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Cost: 10 - 14 Euros
More Information (In French): www.bowie-odysee.com
Remember to book in advance, and contact the venue directly for any standing pandemic restrictions.
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