Glam! The Performance of Style

 My boyfriend and I decided to take our Mums to Tate Liverpool for Mother's day. They both grew up in the 1970's so I thought this would be a great exhibition to take them to. The exhibition was split into two sections, exploring the influences of glam in both the UK and USA during the 1970s. I have only ever really associated glam with music. But the exhibition made me realise how much it affected and was affected by art, film, performance, photographty and society as a whole. It was a way of life.
We saw alot of memorabilia from the era such as album sleeves, magazine spreads and clothing. There were photographs by Nancy Hellebrand depicting young working class people in their run down bedsits, surrounded by posters of their Glam Rock idols, with hair and make-up to match. This really shows how glam was accessable to anyone. It was a mind set that anyone could have, no matter how rich or poor. Glam enpowered people and enabled them to be anyone they wanted to be.
Richrd Hamilton was an important figure in Glam. 'Fashion Plate' was on display which I really enjoyed seeing. The process of the pice is alot more complicated than you would think. He built up the photomontage in the same way one might put their make up on. The piece actually uses make up as a medium, which was a major part of glam.

Glam pushed the boundaries of erotisism, identity and androgyny. Cindy Sherman looks at identity in her work. Displayed were a series of photographs, showing Sherman made up looking completely different in each piece, some female, some male. This androgyny is an important theme in glam and was also explored by David Bowie. This scared alot of people at the time, and people who pushed these limits were assumed to be homosexuals.  

I realy enjoyed the exhibition and now know how much of an impact glam really had on pop culture, the arts, and vice versa.