Saatchi to host new Rolling Stones exhibit
The band members spent three years planning the show, which features collaborative work with writers, designers and film-makers such as Andy Warhol, Alexander McQueen, Tom Stoppard and Martin Scorsese. Described by a source as “ten times the size of David Bowie’s V&A exhibition and twenty times bigger than the Elvis show currently at the O2”, the Stones exhibition will continue to tour the world long-after the 71 yearold Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are finally forced off the road. After three months in London, Exhibitionism will embark on an initial four-year world tour, taking in 11 cities including New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Sir Mick Jagger said: “We’ve been thinking about it for quite a long time but wanted it to be just right and on a large scale just like planning our touring concert productions. I think right now, it’s an interesting time to do it.” Keith Richards said: “While this is about The Rolling Stones, it’s not necessarily just about the members of the band. It’s also about all the paraphernalia and technology associated with a band like us, as well as the instruments that have passed through our hands over the years that will make the exhibition really interesting.”
The band chose the Chelsea location because it was close to the Edith Grove flat which Brian Jones, Jagger and Richards shared in 1962. An electric dulcimer played by Jones will be included in the show, which will embrace all facets of the band’s career, including the disastrous Altamont free concert in 1969 at which the murder of a fan was caught on camera. Ronnie Wood said: “The scene was great down the King’s Road in the 1960’s. That was where you went to hang out a watch the fashions go by. So it is appropriate that our ‘Exhibitionism’ will be housed at the wonderful Saatchi Gallery.” Charlie Watts added: “It’s hard to believe that it’s more than fifty years since we began and it is wonderful to look back to the start and bring everything up to date at this exhibition.”
The exhibition will span more than 1,750 square metres. A new film, looking back at the band’s high points, will accompany the introductory “experience” room. Each room will be a “distinctly designed environment, that will show how the band has changed the way we experience rock and roll.”
Tickets will be cheaper than front row seats for the Stones current US tour. Prices begin at £15 but will rise for “premium” viewing times, such as Saturday afternoons. The band will attend a red-carpet “premiere” opening on April 5, 2016.
Tickets for Exhibitionism go on sale on Friday 10 July 2015 at 9am. www.stonesexhibitionism.com THE INDEPENDENT