"Annie Leibovitz: American Music"
Where? Detroit Institute of Arts
When? Sept. 24 – Jan. 7
Tickets: $10, $5 children
Online: http://www.dia.org
The passionate photograph of a nude John Lennon hugging a clothed Yoko Ono on the cover of Rolling Stone was taken in 1980. But it's still one of Annie Leibovitz's most recognizable photos.
Locally, the renowned photographer, and partner of late novelist and filmmaker Susan Sontag, has captured rapper Eminem, Aretha Franklin, punk icon Iggy Pop, Patti Smith and The White Stripes through the last couple of decades.
Seventy portraits of rock, soul and roots music legends who Leibovitz has captured over her illustrious career will be featured in a DIA exhibit called "Annie Leibovitz: American Music" starting Sept. 24.
"Annie Leibovitz takes us far beyond the typical celebrity portrait and depicts individual performers in surroundings that strikingly reinforce character and personality," said Graham W. J. Beal, DIA director.
Leibovitz has conceptualized casual, formal and whimsical portrayals of music personalities in settings like juke joints, recording studios, hotel rooms, rehearsal spaces, city streets and the American landscape.
Country singer/songwriter Emmylou Harris appears against a twilight sky. Johnny Cash strums guitar with daughter Roseanne on their family porch. Grammy award-winning rap artist Missy Elliot appears in diamonds and fur.
Leibovitz began her career as a photographer with Rolling Stone in 1970 and has taken photos for The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Vogue.
In July, Leibovitz photographed Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' daughter, Suri Cruise, for Vanity Fair, where she works as a portrait photographer.
