"You're Not Alone" as a journey into the world of David Bowie

A mix of rare and previously unseen footage, selected from thousands of hours of footage, comes as a unique journey with the exhibition “David Bowie: You're Not Alone.” The footage presented is structured into thematic chapters and will be projected around a cube-shaped room, aiming to place visitors at the center of the iconic musician's live performances.

Titled “David Bowie: You're Not Alone,” the exhibition invites the public to move through a sound- and visual-dominated environment that reflects Bowie's creative world. Housed in the Lightroom building, otherwise known as London's home for spectacular artist-led performances, the exhibition was designed by Mark Grimmer and Tom Wexler, using extensive material from the legendary musician's archive.

"We have material that people haven't seen before, which we've managed to extract from Bowie's archive, and these are rare or unpublished footage, as well as photographs and personal items. But I think what makes this exhibition special, that you don't necessarily find elsewhere, is the combination of different materials. We bring together animation, live performance material, music, narration. It's all set in a cathedral-like space, with 12-meter-high walls, and it creates a unique visual show that really draws you in," said Grimmer.

The exhibition features a mix of rare and previously unseen footage, selected from thousands of hours of footage from the David Bowie Archive in New York. The footage is structured into thematic chapters and will be projected around a cube-shaped room, placing visitors at the center of the musician's live performances. The exhibition will officially open today (Wednesday). 

His former publicist, Alan Edwards, spoke about the content of the exhibition and the importance of Bowie as an artist and a person. 

“The exhibition spans his entire career. So it starts at the beginning. He’s a bored teenager in the suburbs of South London, waiting for something to happen. And one of the great things about David is that I think he resonates with everyone. We live in very difficult, challenging, confusing and uncertain times. And in a way, David is a creative icon. He’s a kind of roadmap for the future. I think it’s very inspiring because his career is not linear. There are ups and downs, and he was always experimenting, he was always telling people: be brave, try something new. He really lived it. He was authentic. He wasn’t one of those managed pop stars. He often said one of his famous quotes: if you’re in the pool and your feet don’t touch the bottom, then maybe you’re in the right place. So he’s an inspiration to all of us in our lives. It doesn’t matter if we’re in the art world or whatever we do, just to try something new and try to be more "The best and to be as creative as possible. So, his importance as a person and an artist goes beyond music."

Other elements, such as stage models for the “Diamond Dogs” tour, are also used to create digital versions of the designs that will be projected onto the walls of the space.

The hour-long performance-style exhibition is narrated by Bowie, whose interviews are used to provide commentary on various parts of his creative life, from the creation of various characters, such as Aladdin Sane, to his interest in pantomime.

also Culture 10 months ago David Bowie in his world through artifacts

"I think one of the things we want to achieve is to give people an insight into David Bowie as a human being, as well as David Bowie as an artist, and to give them an example of how he was really driven by curiosity and passion for many different art forms. I think if we can give people an understanding of his process and philosophy, beyond the music, that would be really amazing," Grimmer said.

This is the fifth event to be held at Lightroom, which was founded in 2023 with a David Hockney exhibition, which was also written and directed by Mark Grimmer. The venue has also hosted Vogue shows and fashion shows, while Tom Hanks presented his space exploration project titled Moonwalkers.