When Michael Jackson released his landmark
Thriller album in 1982, his infectious hits became
the soundtrack for a generation and his image became
a pop culture touchstone for artists the world over.
Jackson’s 33 times platinum-selling long player recast
the former Motown child prodigy as a mainstream,
multi-platform performer, inspiring not just maverick
fashions and dance moves but also myriad artistic
interpretations. In the decades that followed, everyone
from Andy Warhol to Jeff Koons conceived their
own fanboy versions of Jackson’s otherworldly image.
A new exhibition, ‘Michael Jackson: On the Wall’,
at the National Portrait Gallery in London moonwalks
the star back into the cultural zeitgeist and celebrates
his continued influence on contemporary art. Gallery
director and curator of the show Nicholas Cullinan
has brought together works by more than 40 artists,
including new pieces made especially for the occasion.
The selection embraces emerging talents as well as
important contemporary artists such as Kehinde Wiley,
David LaChapelle, Rita Ackermann, Dara Birnbaum,
Candice Breitz, Mark Flood, Gary Hume and
Catherine Opie. Also in the mix is Warhol, who created
a series of silkscreen portraits of Jackson when he
was commissioned to produce a cover for Time
magazine in 1984. ‘Time was bringing together the
King of Pop Art with the King of Pop,’ notes Cullinan.
The exhibition is sponsored by HUGO BOSS –
Jackson, it turns out, wore a white BOSS suit for the
Dick Zimmerman portrait that appeared on the Thriller
album jacket. Not content with anything from the
stylist’s rail at the shoot, he asked for something along
the lines of the white suit Zimmerman was wearing;
at which point the photographer offered it up.
The Thriller album, and that BOSS suit, both appear
in the exhibition, via a lyrical interpretation by artist
Graham Dolphin, who handwrote the words from
each track in two large-scale pieces that incorporate
the album’s cover art and that of 1979’s Off the Wall.
‘The repetition of the iconic and ubiquitous image of
Jackson is countered by the sheer force and intensity
of labour evident in the works’ making,’ says Dolphin.
‘The handwritten words evoke notions of obsession
associated with the act of the “fan”.’
‘Michael Jackson: On the Wall’, 28 June-21 October,
National Portrait Gallery, London, npg.org.ukThriller
instinct
Michael Jackson-inspired art and
BOSS suiting come together at
London’s National Portrait GalleryPHOTOGRAPHY: SOFIE MIDDERNACHT & MAARTEN ALEXANDER
FASHION: JÉRÔME ANDRÉWallpaper* Bespoke