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ABOUT MARILYN MONROE – LIFE AS A LEGEND Through the art and photography of Andy Warhol, Allen Jones, Peter Blake, Richard Avedon, Bert Stern, Henri Cartier-Bresson and many others, “Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe” captures the spark, sex appeal and sensation that was this POP icon. This vivid and diverse exhibition of nearly 300 objects captures Marilyn’s rise to stardom through works by more than 65 artists in styles ranging from fashion photography to Pop Art. Documenting the iconic life of America’s favorite sex symbol, this exhibition showcases one of the world’s most intriguing women. A visual voyage of Monroe’s rise to stardom, the exhibition opens with Tom Kelley’s Red Velvet Pose for Playboy and continues with the sensuous bed sheet shots, ‘One Night with Marilyn’, the famous Douglas Kirkland photographs. Also shown is the newly rehabilitated, revived and slender Marilyn ‘Here’s to You’ photos with champagne glass in hand, celebrating her entrée back into Hollywood, during the poignant ‘The Last Sitting’ by Bert Stern. “Life as a Legend” depicts recognizable moments in Monroe’s film career, such as the famous subway grate scene with Thomas Ewell in Seven Year Itch by Sam Shaw, and also portrays the pensive, behind the scenes shots of The Misfits by Ernst Haas. The exhibition allows the viewer to enjoy all the charismatic Marilyn through fashion photography and Hollywood moments as well as exploring deeper to explore the tender vulnerability of this captivating legend. In addition to the introspective lens of Shaw, Haas, Kelley, Kirkland, Stern and others, artists such as Mel Ramos and other more avant guarde artists such as Antonio de Felipe and Yasumasa Morimura highlight their distinctive Marilyn interpretations. She came into the world as Norma Jean Baker, but cast off humble beginnings to become Marilyn Monroe. She was known as much for her classic films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Bus Stop, Seven Year Itch, Some Like it Hot and How to Marry a Millionaire, as for her celebrity marriages and rumored liaisons. Though her life ended far too soon, the world’s fascination with Marilyn Monroe’s magnetic appeal and much publicized private life continues to thrive. There has never been another Marilyn, a unique personification of femininity, naïveté and sexuality.For decades artists have been inspired by Marilyn to create works complementing the instantly recognizable bombshell figure, platinum hair and dazzling smile. Marilyn Monroe personifies glamour and sensuality. The death of Marilyn Monroe remains a mystery, as does the private woman behind the myth. “Life as a Legend - Marilyn Monroe” celebrates the many sides of this 1950’s glamour goddess and immortal legend. |