Described by critics as ‘The Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band’, The Rolling Stones have staged their first ever major exhibition at London’s prestigious Saatchi Gallery. EXHIBITIONISM is officially the most comprehensive and immersive insight into the group.
As well as over five hundred Rolling Stones important and unseen artefacts from the band’s personal archives, the exhibition takes the public through the band’s fascinating fifty year history, embracing all aspects of art and design, film, video, fashion, performance, and rare sound archives. At the heart of the exhibition is the Stones musical heritage that took the group from being a hard working London blues band in the early 1960s to becoming inspirational cultural icons adored by millions.
Over five decades the Stones have shaped popular culture, often in their own image, and this exhibition looks back through every facet of the band’s career to offer a unique perspective that only the bands own archive can provide. Exhibitionism is the largest touring experience of this kind ever to be staged by a band or artist, and continues the proud tradition by the band of ground-breaking innovation combined with the highest production values.
Exhibitionism has taken three years of meticulous planning and offers a comprehensive insight into the band in a way that has never before been attempted. The exhibition is an interactive tour through the band’s vast artistic oeuvre, and includes original stage designs, dressing room and backstage paraphernalia; rare guitars and instruments, iconic costumes, rare audio tracks and unseen video clips; personal diaries and correspondence; original poster and album cover artwork, and unique cinematic presentations. Collaborations and work by the vast array of artists, designers, musicians and writers will be included in the exhibition – from Andy Warhol, Shepard Fairey, Alexander McQueen, and Ossie Clark to Tom Stoppard and Martin Scorsese.
Mick Jagger commented, “We've been thinking about this for quite a long time but we wanted it to be just right and on a large scale. The process has been like planning our touring concert productions and I think that right now it’s an interesting time to do it.”
It truly feels like you've been given a VIP backstage pass into one of the Stones' sold out concerts - it's the sort of personal encounter that die-hard fans have been waiting years for! Tickets are available to buy online and the show will run until September 2016. Following the London exhibition, Exhibitionism will visit 11 other global cities around the world over a four year period.
Saatchi Gallery; saatchigallery.com
Twitter: @saatchi_gallery
#stonesexhibitionism
Instagram: @stonesexhibitionism