Step into one of the most glamorous and creatively influential eras in New York City’s history. NYC Glam: The 60s – 80s transports visitors to a time when the city and its legendary nightlife were the epicenter of an alluring fusion of contemporary art, high fashion, décor, written word, and music. This NYC scene will be commemorated as a uniquely American phenomenon.
NYC Glam invites visitors to experience the enormous creativity and electric energy that made New York the epicenter of artistic and cultural innovation from the 1960s through the 1980s. The era’s artists, fashion designers, musicians, writers, photographers, collectors, art dealers, patrons, and publishers – many of whom are enduring cultural figures – will be represented, along with a host of memorable images that give this era the mood of an unending party.
Beginning with Truman Capote’s legendary Black and White Ball in 1966 and continuing through the storied years of Studio 54 and beyond, the exhibition explores two decades defined by extraordinary artistic innovation, fearless self-expression, and a bold new fashion style. NYC Glam features renowned figures from the era, including artists Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Robert Mapplethorpe, Hunt Slonem, Alex Katz, Richard Bernstein, Erté, Judith Leiber, Peter Max, and others, complemented by iconic fashion luminaries Halston, Bob Mackie, Donna Karan, Diana Vreeland, André Leon Talley, Ossie Clark, Stephen Sprouse, Isaac Mizrahi, Hanae Mori and Paloma Picasso; photographers Ron Galella and Dustin Pittman; Interview Magazine; musicians David Bowie, Patti Smith, Deborah Harry, The Ramones, among others.
This exhibition will also evoke the era with a mise-en-scène recreation of the atmosphere of Vito Giallo Antiques, where Andy Warhol purchased items almost daily. The myriad items from Vito’s collection, including his cat watercolors, cartoons of celebrity clients, and vintage antiques, expressed his eclectic style and taste. Directly across the Carlyle Hotel on New York City’s Upper East Side, Vito’s shop attracted a celebrity clientele, including André Leon Talley, Robert Mapplethorpe, Lee Radziwill, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and Paloma Picasso.
On view throughout the grand rooms of the museum’s historic former Frick family mansion, the exhibition transforms each gallery into an immersive experience, where art, fashion, furniture, photography, and design recreate the atmosphere of New York’s most celebrated cultural moments.
