Sky Arts exclusive first-look inside new David Bailey exhibition
DAVID BAILEY’S STARDUST: EXCLUSIVE
TX: Tuesday 11 February, 9pm on Sky Arts 1
Sky Arts will offer customers a first look at the extraordinary world and work of David Bailey with an exclusive tour of his new landmark exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, to be broadcast this February.
In David Bailey’s Stardust: Exclusive, Bailey, who has curated the exhibition personally, will take Sky Arts’ art historian and critic Tim Marlow on an exploration of Bailey’s Stardust show, providing viewers with reflections on a career that spans more than half a century. Bailey will talk Marlow through the ideas behind his most iconic works, from his early days as a photographer’s assistant to his place as one of the world’s most distinguished and distinctive photographers.
The hour long programme, which will be broadcast in the first days of the exhibition’s opening, will also feature contributions from those who know David Bailey best - including his wife Catherine, Tom Ford, Don McCullin, Sir Peter Blake, Jerry Hall and Terry O’Neil and will broadcast exclusive footage from the exhibition’s glittering opening night gala event.
David Bailey has made an outstanding contribution to the visual arts, creating consistently imaginative and thought-provoking portraits. Bailey’s Stardust will be one of the National Portrait Gallery’s larger-scale photography exhibitions, with over 250 portraits occupying most of its ground floor.
The portraits have been selected by Bailey from the subjects and groups that he captured over the last five decades: photographers, actors, writers, musicians, filmmakers, fashion icons, designers, models, artists and people encountered on his travels.
Featuring the iconic images of some of the world’s most famous faces including Salvador Dali, Bob Dylan, Kate Moss, Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Nelson Mandela and Jack Nicholson, the exhibition also presents the portraits of a wide range of unknown sitters from Bailey’s travels in London, Australia, Delhi and the Naga Hills and from his Democracy project in which people visiting his studio were asked if they would agree to be photographed naked.
The portraits are exhibited in a series of contrasting rooms, and through images of skulls and pregnancy, present powerful meditations on birth and death.
David Bailey: "I’m glad it’s Sky Arts that's doing it. It’s one of the channels I watch so I might actually get to see it!"
James Hunt, Director of Sky Arts: “David Bailey is one of the most extraordinary photographers at work today. His work during the ‘Swinging Sixties’ came to embody the spirit and essence of the age while his portraits elevated his subjects to iconic status. We’re delighted to be able to give Sky Arts viewers the chance to see this remarkable exhibition.”
Tim Marlow, Sky Arts presenter and Director of White Cube Gallery: “Bailey is a British institution and one of the most compelling creative individuals I've ever encountered. But he also takes no crap from anyone ... therefore the chance to film with him and explore his most important exhibition of portraits face-to-face and in front of some of the most familiar faces in British life over the past half century will be inspiring, entertaining, profound and potentially traumatic. I can't wait.”
John Smithson, Executive Producer, Arrow Media: “David Bailey is not only one of our leading cultural icons, but his photographs from the last 50 years continue to provide a compelling picture of modern history. Arrow Media is continually motivated by bringing compelling personal stories alive, and we are delighted to be working with Sky Arts on such a landmark documentary.”
The programme’s exec producer is John Smithson for Arrow Films. It has been commissioned by Chris Wilson, Sky’s Commissioning Editor for Factual.
David Bailey’s Stardust: Exclusive marks a further development for Sky Arts which champions innovative and original art programming, underlining Sky’s promise to deliver high-quality, exclusive content to customers, supported by a commitment to increase investment in home-grown programming to £600 million by 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Katherine Solomon PR Manager, Sky Press Office
T: 0207 032 0599
E:
Dominic Collett Sky Arts Publicist, Sky Press Office
T: 0207 032 4892
E:
NOTES TO EDITOR
BAILEY’S STARDUST
Sponsored by HUGO BOSS
National Portrait Gallery, London (6 February – 1 June 2014), Admission charge
About Sky Arts
Sky Arts offers an eclectic mix of the best music, arts, biographies, chat shows, film, drama and comedy. Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with channels dedicated solely to the arts, with 48 hours of the best arts content from around the world across Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 daily. Sky Arts now reaches more than 6 million viewers every month.
Recent highlights include Playhouse Presents… a series of one-off comedies and dramas starring world-renowned talent including Jon Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Thompson, Sir Tom Jones, Brenda Blethyn, David Tennant and Alison Steadman. The channel was also responsible for resurrecting the much-loved South Bank Show and The South Bank Show Awards. Sky Arts also encourages new formats and methods for accessing the arts, working with the ENO and National Gallery to beam the world’s first live opera and first live opening night of an exhibition in 3D to cinemas across the UK and Ireland.
Sky Arts also seeks to connect with culture on the ground; creating and collaborating with the best of the arts in the UK and Ireland to bring new experiences to life. Sky Arts has collaborated with a number of arts organisations including the English National Ballet and has supported the Hay Festival as broadcast partner since 2006. The Sky Arts Ignition Series launched in in 2011 to invest in the arts landscape of the UK. The Series will seek to collaborate with six arts organisations over the next three years in the creation of brand new works; Sky Arts Ignition Series: Futures Fund will support five young artists with a bursary of £30,000 each, enabling Sky Arts to back the creation of new works of art as well as nurture emerging talent.
About Sky
Sky is the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and communications company. Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services.
Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.5 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News. Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.
Alongside its commitment to offering customers a greater choice of high-quality content, Sky is a leading innovator. Customers enjoy total control and flexibility over their favourite TV through Sky+, watch TV on the move through Sky Go, and enjoy the best quality TV experience at home through High Definition and 3D.
Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi. NOW TV, Sky’s second consumer brand, builds on the company’s leadership in internet TV. Sky is also the UK's fastest-growing home communications company and favourite ‘triple-play’ provider of TV, broadband and home phone.
Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sports and increasing access to, and participation in, the arts. Sky employs 24,000 people, has annual revenues of £7.2 billion and is estimated to support a £5.9 billion contribution to UK GDP. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY).