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Geoffrey Marsh

Victoria Broackes

David Bowie Is (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago: Exhibition Catalogues) Hardcover – Special Edition, April 16, 2013

by Victoria Broackes (Editor), Geoffrey Marsh (Editor), Christopher Frayling (Contributor),

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David Bowie’s career as a pioneering artist spanned nearly 50 years and brought him international acclaim. He continues to be cited as a major influence on contemporary artists and designers working across the creative arts.

This book, published to accompany the blockbuster international exhibition launched at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, is the only volume that grants access to Bowie’s personal archive of performance costumes, ephemera, and original design artwork by the artist, bringing it together to present a completely new perspective on his creative work and collaborations. The book traces his career from its beginnings in London, through the breakthroughs of Space Oddity and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and on to his enormous impact on 20th-century avant-garde music and art. Essays by V&A curators on Bowie’s London, image, and influence on the fashion world are complemented by Howard Goodall on musicology; Camille Paglia on gender and decadence, and Jon Savage on Bowie’s relationship with William Burroughs and his fans. The more than 300 color illustrations include personal and performance photographs, album covers, costumes, original lyric sheets, and much more.

Praise for David Bowie Is:

“Perusing David Bowie Is (V&A Publishing, distributed by Abrams), the exhibition’s catalog, with its procession of poses and costumes and weighty essays tracking the cross-references to pop culture and high art, you get a sense of how much hard work it took to be Mr. Bowie.” —The New York Times

“The fans of 50 years or those making discoveries in retrospect will be intrigued by the accompanying book David Bowie Is that is far more than a fanzine.”—The New York Times

“Lends context and picks away at Bowie with such insight that it’s a rare hagiography with soul.” —Chicago Tribune

“Combining top-notch articles on the singer/actor’s life and work with official images and reproductions of his fashion and associated ephemera, the hefty, mango-colored book is nothing short of a treasure trove of all things Bowie; a one-stop smorgasbord for the eyes whose pictorials chronicle the groundbreaking star from Ziggy Stardust to Thin White Duke to Heathen and every personality in between.” —Examiner.com

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

V & A Publishing
Publication date

April 16, 2013
Dimensions

9.5 x 1.25 x 12.5 inches
ISBN-10

1851777377
ISBN-13

978-1851777372
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This companion piece to an exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert Museum explores the iconography, fashion, and music of pop icon David Bowie. Drawn to rock'n'roll as a rebellion against his suburban London upbringing, Bowie's career has been one of constant reinvention and innovation. As a musician and composer, his influences are wide ranging: he borrows as much from contemporaries such as The Rolling Stones and German synthesizer bands Neu! and Kraftwerk as from composers Kurt Weill and frequent collaborator Brian Eno. He is also heavily influenced by broader culture, notably adopting the cut up method often employed by William Burroughs, while being "strongly influenced" by the video work of Andy Warhol. Beyond music, however, Bowie cultivated a constantly shifting sense of style—most famously as his glam rock, alien alter-ego Ziggy Stardust—his various costumes were "Dadaist in impulse and Surrealist in conception and execution." Particularly striking, however, was the cobweb body-suit he wore for The 1980 Floor Show, which features two glitter covered mannequin hands that seem to be fondling his chest as a kind of camp provocation. Indeed, as Camille Paglia notes, Bowie came to embody "the shaman and prophet who crossed into forbidden sexual terrain." (Apr.)

About the Author

Victoria Broackes is a curator of theatre & performance at the V&A. Geoffrey Marsh is director of the V&A theatre collections. Sir Christopher Frayling is a critic and writer and former rector of the Royal College of Art, London. Howard Goodall is an Emmy, BRIT, and BAFTA award–winning composer and broadcaster. Camille Paglia is University Professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Her books include Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson. Jon Savage is a writer and broadcaster. His books include Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture and England’s Dreaming: Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ V & A Publishing; Special edition (April 16, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1851777377
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1851777372
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.89 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.5 x 1.25 x 12.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #127,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #342 in Rock Music (Books)
- #372 in Pop Culture Art

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

833 global ratings

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4 star		6%
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Coco Blue

Absolutely MUST HAVE Bowie Tribute!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

David Bowie once complained that the Bowie biography books were "a bloody cottage industry". Recently, there have been several major fantastic books of photography devoted to him from Sukita, Mick Rock and a compilation "Moonage Daydream". If you are a fan, you will want to have this one.

Currently, at the Victoria and Albert Museum is an exhibition which is the basis for this book. I have not seen the exhibition, and I will probably not, so ordering this in advance was the way to go. It is spectacular. Much of the beautiful photography is a chronology of the 50 years of Bowie's stage clothes dressed on various headless mannequins. Interspersed with this are various sections devoted to the album covers, original penned lyrics, proof sheets of different photo sessions and a long running commentary, with quotes from Bowie. Filler pages of one white lyric on a black background, or one phrase in black type on a white background occur, but we must leave the book designer with some discretion.

I have not read the whole thing, and may not. Having been a die hard fan since I first passed a record store in Upper Darby, London in August, 1972 and was dazzled by about 50 copies of Ziggy Stardust hanging by threads in the window, I have kept pretty close to everything Bowie for 41 years now. So most of what other people have to say about Bowie, I most probably already know. And sometimes, the history is not always accurate. As for the various interpretations in this book, the more words are written about someone, the more fascinating they may become. But, if you weren't there watching Bowie for the last 41 years, you missed something tremendous.

Ultimately, however, this book is really a fashion book. The photos allow you to accurately measure how many pleats were in the 1978 Sailor costume, or how zigzag stitching with white thread on black vinyl created the lines in the famous Aladdin Sane opening costume. This book will supplement any good collection of Bowie photo books, especially the recent "Bowie Style" which is superb. If you love Bowie, you'll get it.

46 people found this helpful

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scrapsofoz

Buy it for the Pictures

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 26, 2014

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This book is visually stunning. From the typeset to the pictures it is indeed a thing of beauty. However, I must agree with the other three star reviewer that "Britain is Bloody Bitter". As a long time Bowie fan, I never even thought that the English might be angry that one of her favorite sons fled the isles. Bowie probably contributed to this by convincing us he beamed in from another planet. (There are baby pictures in this book that prove otherwise.) Whether Bowie left England to avoid taxes (the same reason the U.S. split with the Brits, I believe.)or for some other reason, the Brits are not happy and this book is the curiously Anglo-centric product of that dismay. Apparently, when Brits are peeved, stuff gets left out. Important stuff, like most of Bowie's post "Scary Monsters" career and his appearance on the cover of "Time" magazine. The most glaring omission, the proverbial "elephant in the living room" is Angela (Barnett) Bowie, his first wife. She is given only a cursory mention. It is ridiculous enough that there is no photo of her in this book; but instead an actual photo of her, there is one of Bowie with a model portraying Angie. How crazy is that? Talk about revisionist history. I agree with the other reviewer that most of what is written in this book is stuffy and becomes terribly academic. Pompous doesn't begin to describe the intellectual name dropping that goes on in the final chapter of the book. David Bowie is a brilliant artist, but the self-important, pretentious, academic, one-upmanship that comprises the last chapter completely loses the fact that Bowie is a pop star. He wrote the lyrics "With just a beer light to guide us" and "Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma'm!". Approaching David Bowie with the solemnity normally reserved for the Renaissance masters almost becomes unintentionally satirical in this context. The final chapter is a superfluous disaster.

I have attended three Bowie concerts. He is a master showman. Absolutely, without a doubt, one of the finest performers I have ever experienced. It is marvelous to see the costumes and ephemera associated with his career. However the text of this book falls flat. It is so humorless that is fails to truly convey the essence that is Bowie. Worst thing of all: It does the unthinkable. It makes Bowie boring.

38 people found this helpful

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J. Webb

Made a David Bowie fan happy

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 25, 2022

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Bought as a Christmas present for my daughter. Not only did she love the book, but others in the family liked it as well. She appreciated the artistic approach taken with the book.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 11, 2016

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Just fantastic. How did I not know about this coming to the States??? Bring it back!!! I thought no this is a must have for Bowie collectors. Who gets their own traveling art exhibit? It's often overlooked that Bowie had a huge influence on fashion. Fashion, styling was just as much a part of his art as his music/lyrics, writing, performances, staging, painting, life! I recently read an article from the Spiders Era where someone is interviewing Bowie apparently before he goes on television for yet a different interview. He describes Bowie entering in some green quilted suit with yellow trousers and boots. After a bit, they break, so Bowie can go get dressed for the television interview and it hits the writer of this article that what Bowie entered wearing, that caused the various stage hands and cameramen to stop and gawk, was indeed just his "street clothes." Let's fact it, the man could make jeans and a t-shirt rawk! This book is a visual of the touring art exhibit that documents his influence on fashion through the years. Gorgeous. Worth the buy in my opinion.

4 people found this helpful

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Antonia

Nothing compares to the real thing

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 18, 2021

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The book is good but nothing compares to seeing the actual exhibition.

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F. Rush

Great photography with comments.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 15, 2021

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This indeed is large format book with great artwork and interesting commentary and behind the scenes information. It groups various incarnations fo Bowie throughout the years and it is fun to read his handwritten lyrics to many of the songs. Great coffee table book.

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Top reviews from other countries

Michalis Theo

A gorgeous tome that will please even the casual Bowie fan

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 10, 2017

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The positive reviews about this book were very very encouraging, but I must admit I expected a - mostly - picture book, with a big part of it dedicated to David's costumes etc. I was quite wrong. It's so much more than that! Not to mention that it's huge and, well, gorgeous! The access to the official David Bowie Archive means that there's a lot of material that most of us haven't seen before. Every photo etc is so well reproduced and organised in a quite inventive way. There are quite a few essays too, all very interesting and of the same high quality as the rest of the book. I would recommend this book even to the casual Bowie fan without hesitation.

17 people found this helpful

Walleroonie

Fabulous coffee table book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

Not for me, purchased for my wife.

I saw this at the V&A in Dundee - their copy sadly had been rather thumbed and such was the demand that they had none left to purchase.

I have to get away from Amazon at some stage because if I don't, a lot of the shops I like will disappear off our streets and I get it, Amazon will sell cheap whilst the competition exists, remove that competition and they'll probably increase prices however this was £15 cheaper than the V&A and whilst I would love to continue to support other book shops etc, with a saving of that much my bank balance will end up deciding.

This is a very well put together book, loads of photos, facts and information. It has a great weight to it and has very tastefully been thought out and constructed.

I missed the show unfortunately but this book has hopefully captured it all.

Being a fan of the Thin White Duke, my wife will love it.

4 people found this helpful

M. Bello

A must for any serious Bowie fan.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

I'm going to keep it short. The pictures are simply antonishing, very well documented with lots of cool facts and info. In terms of structure it's also beautifully made, I, as a photographer and DTP (desktop publisher) I think they did a great job putting all together. Materials are great, made with taste and good sense, looks classy and feel good in your hands. Being picky there are a few (very few indeed) manufacturing flaws printing wise, some spots here and there, but as I said very little, still a 5 stars product.

9 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Beautiful book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

The media could not be loaded.

Beautiful stunning book, however it's ruined by an ugly permanent white sticker on the back, it can't be removed and really does detract from what is a great book. If you're a Bowie fan this is the book for you, it's fantastic

Amazon Customer

Beautifully put together

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 28, 2022

Verified Purchase

I assume you are thinking about this book as you're a Bowie fan - and if you are you will love this. It's the book to accompany the tour his outfits did at the V & A in London, if you missed it photos of the outfits are all here. But it's more than that, there is stuff from the Bowie archives that will be new to you. Love Bowie? Buy this book.

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