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PHOTOGRAPHY © THE DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE/COURTESY OF THE ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO (INSTALLATION VIEW); COURTESY OF THE DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE/ © VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON (STORYBOARD); COURTESY OF THE DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE/ © V&A IMAGES (BURROUGHS); ROY AINSWORTH/COURTESY OF THE DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE/ © V&A IMAGES (KON-RADS); MASAYOSHI SUKITA/THE DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE (STARMAN); FRANK W. OCKENFELS 3 (MCQUEEN) "HIS INFLUENCE ON CULTURE IS ARGUABLY GREATER THAN ANY OTHER MUSICIAN OF HIS GENERATION." —VICTORIA BROACKES you have Cindy Sherman and Matthew Barney. Then you're like, 'Wow, Bowie did this so many years before.' He just had a nose for the zeitgeist and was able to channel it in a way that seemed very smart." And of course, there was, for want of a better expres- sion—and Bowie's daring demands one—the gender bending. Naturally androgy- nous, Bowie seemingly invented a third sex, one that attracted and repelled attention at the same time, as if sensuousness were a state of mind rather than a physical imperative. Just when everyone thought Bowie had called it quits, he issued yet another album, last year's The Next Day. It's anyone's guess whether this signals a new burst of creativity, but it really doesn't matter; the man has done enough. "David Bowie is all around us," says Broackes. "His influence on contempo- rary culture is arguably greater than any other musician of his generation. His contributions to music, performance, fashion, and design are milestones of our era." September 23, 2014– January 4, 2015. Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave., 312-280-2660; mcachicago.org MA BOWIE 101 From couture to multimedia, the MCA's show offers a feast for the eyes. With more than 400 items on view at the MCA, it'll be tough for any fan to say which bit of Bowie is their favorite. But with a ringside seat to the show, chief curator Michael Darling shares five of the exhibit's can't-miss items. Promotional shoot for The Kon-rads, 1963 ( RIGHT). "What is amazing is how self-aware Bowie was and attuned to his self-image, even before he was David Bowie. An example is a great photo of him from 1963, aged 16, when he led a band called the Kon-rads." Portrait by Masayoshi Sukita, 1973 ( RIGHT). "Fascinating how Bowie could coax a futuristic look out of old-fashioned English Liberty fabrics, as he did in his iconic "Starman" performance for the Top of the Pops TV show." Asymmetric knitted bodysuit, 1973. "I'm blown away by the audacity of the outfits that Kansai Yamamoto made for Bowie, especially the knit bodysuit from the Aladdin Sane period with the missing leg." Stage set model for the Diamond Dogs tour, 1974. "Bowie was constantly looking and borrowing, and a favorite dustbin of history was Ger- man Expressionism and early silent film. The stage set he designed for the Diamond Dogs tour has these elements in it, suggesting a Fritz Lang metropolis of the future." Original photography for the Earthling album cover, 1997 ( ABOVE RIGHT). "Bowie had an amazing nose for the zeitgeist, and he found many future stars before they became well-known. A great example of this is his very early patronage of Alexander McQueen and the outfits the designer made for him." FROM LEFT: Storyboards by David Bowie for his 1980 "Ashes to Ashes" video; the musician and William S. Burroughs photographed by Terry O'Neill, with handcoloring by Bowie. "David Bowie Is" promises to be as unconventional as the artist himself. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 63 64 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM CULTURE Hottest Ticket

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