Can You Dig It? The Brooklyn Museum Is Staging the First Exhibition Dedicated to the Aesthetics of Studio 54

Just the name—Studio 54!—conjures images of disco lights,
sequined miniskirts, drugs, Donald Trump rubbing elbows with Andy
Warhol, and plenty of other debauchery packed into the 33 months,
from April 1977 to February 1980, that the New York City nightclub
was open.

For those of us who missed out on those heady years, the Brooklyn Museum has announced the forthcoming show
“Studio 54: Night Magic,” the first exhibition to showcase the
nightclub as a hallmark of the rapidly changing cultural life of
New York City.

The show describes Studio 54 as emerging from the shadow of the
Vietnam War, just as the Civil Rights, LGBTQ+, and women’s rights
movements were gaining momentum, giving rise to the need for a
place of liberated minds and bodies. It was in this landscape
that Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell dreamed up the club,
installed it in a former opera house in Midtown, and dropped the
record needle.

Schrager and Rubell were ultimately stripped of their glittering
status when they were charged with tax evasion (though Barack Obama
did grant Schrager a presidential pardon in 2017) and the club was
shuttered.

The show, organized by the Brooklyn Museum’s senior curator
of fashion and material culture Matthew Yokobosky, will tell the
story of the epic rise and rapid fall of the club by displaying
some 650 objects spanning fashion, photography, drawings, film, and
music.

The exhibition design draws inspiration from the club’s original
lighting and ambience, and will showcase blueprints and building
plans that illustrate how Schrager and Rubell ultimately ushered in
a new model for high-end hospitality. Other highlights include more
than 50 costume sketches by Vogue contributor Antonio
Lopez, ephemera salvaged by members of the original club staff, and
unrealized set designs that haven’t been seen in decades.

“Studio 54: Night Magic” will run from March 13–July 5,
2020, at the Brooklyn Museum. Tickets go on sale October
1.

The post Can You Dig It? The Brooklyn Museum Is Staging the
First Exhibition Dedicated to the Aesthetics of Studio 54
appeared first on artnet News.