Elvis Presley, © 2010 Red Grooms / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
National Portrait Gallery
8th and G Streets, NW
Washington, DC
The One Life gallery within the museum is devoted to the exploration of the life of one individual.
This exhibition features Elvis Presley and celebrates the 75th anniversary of his birth. Although Elvis died more than 30 years ago, the world remains fascinated with his image and music. His records have continued to sell by the millions and public interest in his music, career, and life has yet to subside. During the last half century, Elvis became part of the artistic discourse as well. Early in Elvis's career, Andy Warhol illuminated the role he played in the new and youth-powered popular American culture; later, Ralph Wolfe Cowan, Red Grooms, and others created mythical, spiritual, and earthly images of the man whose legacy includes multiple superlative moments in music, entertainment, life, and afterlife. To this day, both the historical Elvis Presley and the fantasy-based vision of Elvis are the subject of poetry, literature, music, film, and the visual arts.
Related Book: Echoes of Elvis: The Cultural Legacy of Elvis Presley
