Pop Stars
Amy Jade Winehouse
by Mischa Richter
24 July 2006
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This summer, a host of
Pop Stars will descend on Sunderland as part of a new exhibition
at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.
This fascinating exhibition of seventy photographs of British
pop stars by leading British photographers charts the changing
styles and image of pop stardom from the 1950s to the present
day. The wide range of artists included in the exhibition starts
in the 1950s with Lonnie Donnegan and Cliff Richard and comes
right up to date with Amy Winehouse Girls Aloud and Franz Ferdinand
- via the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, Pet Shop
Boys and the Spice Girls. Several of the stars whose portraits
are on show have close connections with the North East.
A new photograph of Maximo Park, specially taken for the exhibition
by Newcastle born photographer Chris Owens will be on show for
the first time. Also on show will be memorabilia relating to
the music scene in the North East, including gig tickets, posters
and programmes from venues such as the Bay Hotel, Sunderland,
and the Metro Radio Arena.
Schools and community groups have been engaged in various activities
as part of the project. Some of the excellent work they produced
will also be on display. A special addition to the exhibition
is a juke-box that will showcase upcoming bands from Sunderland's
current music scene. A wide-ranging programme of events and activities
has been organised to accompany the exhibition.
'For a pop singer or group, being photographed is a vital part
of the pop process. The result can be a visual manifesto: this
is what we are, what we want to be, where we're from and where
we're going; these are our influences; this is what we want to
say.'
Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys), Icons of Pop, National Portrait
Gallery, 1999
This is the fifth year that Sunderland
Museum & Winter Gardens has been part of a Strategic Commissioning
Partnership Project with the National Portrait Gallery.
Funded by DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) and
DfES (Department for Education and Skills).
Venues
Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
30 June - 27 August 2007
