Jewish Museum London celebrates the legend of Amy Winehouse with street art trail and exhibition
Jewish Museum London marks 2017 with a celebration of modern music legend Amy Winehouse in her beloved Camden Town, with a new Amy-themed street art trail and the return of the critically acclaimed exhibition Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait.
Abigail Morris, Director of the Jewish Museum London said: “Aside from being an immensely talented, iconic and inspirational singer, Amy was also a Jewish girl from North London. It is fitting that the Jewish Museum in her beloved Camden Town should be the place to tell her story.
“Following its immense success around the world, we are delighted to be bringing our Amy Winehouse exhibition back to London. Our street art trail is an exciting new way to explore Amy’s impact on her local community and we are keen to celebrate her legacy through the work of these outstanding street artists.”
Amy Winehouse street art trail
Wednesday 15 March – Sunday 4 June 2017
Jewish Museum London’s Amy Winehouse street art trail in Camden Town gives music fans, street art enthusiasts and other Londoners a new way to explore the area Amy called home. Produced in collaboration with Global Street Art, the trail will feature Amy-themed street art throughout Camden by artists such as Captain Kris, Mr Cenz, Philth and Amara Por Dios.
The trail will lead to a newly commissioned installation at Jewish Museum London by renowned street artist Pegasus, who first gained recognition for his work Fallen Angel honouring Winehouse shortly after her death.
The funds for the street art trail were raised via Art Happens, the only crowdfunding platform dedicated to the museum and gallery sector.
Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait
Thursday 16 March – Sunday 24 September 2017
(Press preview: Wednesday 15 March 2017, 9am-midday)
Following its international tour to locations such as Tel Aviv, Vienna and San Francisco, Jewish Museum London’s acclaimed 2013 exhibition Amy Winehouse: Family Portrait, curated in collaboration with brother Alex and sister-in-law Riva, returns to its Camden home.
The Winehouse family gave Jewish Museum London unprecedented access to her personal belongings that celebrate her passion for music, fashion, sudoku, Snoopy, London and her family. Divided into four different key themes, this intimate and moving exhibition provides an insight into the woman behind the hype.
The exhibition begins with Amy’s home life, exploring the Jewish history of the Winehouse family and how this heritage influenced Amy and her work. Her Jewish paternal great-great-grandparents came to England as immigrants from Belarus in the early 1890s and Amy had a strong sense of her Jewish roots. Items featured include unseen photographs of Amy’s family life, Friday night Shabbat dinners, Alex’s bar mitzvah and vintage photographs of their stylish grandmother Cynthia, to whom Amy was particularly close.
Raised in Southgate, a frequent visitor of the East End, and at last most strongly associated with Camden Town, Amy was a Londoner through and through. The second section of the exhibition explores Amy’s connections with her home town through a variety of objects such as photographs of her in Southgate and Camden, ticket stubs from London gigs she went to and items from in her Camden home, such as a vintage bar.
Also explored in the exhibition is the variety of influences on Amy’s music, many of which were passed down through the family – jazz, big band, hip-hop, soul and 1960s girl groups. As testament to her eclectic tastes, Amy’s record collection will be on display. Other remarkable items related to her love of music and performing arts include her guitar, her Sylvia Young Theatre School uniform, and a Grammy Award that Amy was awarded posthumously in 2011 —for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – “Body and Soul” with Tony Bennett.
Finally the exhibition looks at Amy the style icon, famous for her influences from 1950s rock ’n’ roll and 1960s girl groups. A range of Amy’s clothing, both designer and high street, will be on display in the exhibition, including the Luella Bartley dress worn at her Glastonbury performance in 2008, an Arrogant Cat dress worn in the Tears Dry On Their Own video, a dress she wore for her debut US TV appearance on the David Letterman Show and a gingham dress that Amy designed for her Fred Perry collection.
