Rolling Stones Announce Exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery
The Rolling Stones are digging into their vaults again — but this time, instead of songs, they're pulling out 50 years of memorabilia. NME reports that the band is working with London's Saatchi Gallery to present their first-ever major gallery exhibition. The show, suitably titled "Exhibitionism," is set to open in April 2016 and remain open until September.
"Exhibitionism" has reportedly been in the works for years, and organizers promise "original stage designs, rare guitars and instruments, backstage paraphernalia, rare audio tracks and unseen video clips" as well as glimpses of the band members' letters and journals. Other portions of the exhibit will focus on the band's artwork, offering behind-the-scenes looks at album covers and concert posters.
Divided into nine themed areas, "Exhibitionism" will take over two floors at the Saatchi Gallery, and will also incorporate Stones-inspired work from an assortment of artists and filmmakers that includes Ossie Clark, Shepard Fairey, Alexander McQueen, Tom Stoppard and Andy Warhol.
"We've been thinking about this for quite a long time but we wanted it to be just right and on a large scale," explains Mick Jagger in a press release. "The process has been like planning our touring concert productions and I think that right now it’s an interesting time to do it."
Adds Keith Richards, "While this is about the Rolling Stones, it's not necessarily only just about the members of the band. It’s also about all the paraphernalia and technology associated with a group like us, and it’s this, as well as the instruments that have passed through our hands over the years, that should make the exhibition really interesting."
"Exhibitionism" tickets are scheduled to go on sale July 10. After the end of its London run, plans call for the installation to travel to 11 more cities over the following four years.
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