Arts & Entertainment
PHOTOS: Rock & Roll, Fine Art Collide In Met's New Exhibit
Instruments played by world-famous musicians such as Prince, John Lennon and members of "The Who" were donated for display.
UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The Metropolitan Museum of Art's newest exhibits celebrates the instruments lucky enough to survive the era of rock & roll as pieces of fine art.
Saxophones, pianos, drum kits and countless guitars of all shapes and sizes donated by some of the world's most famous musicians are featured in the exhibit "Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll," which opened to the public Monday. The collection is the first major exhibit in an art museum dedicated entirely to rock & roll instruments, according to museum officials.
"Play It Loud celebrates a formative chapter in 20th-century art and culture, and the extraordinary objects featured in this presentation convey the innovation, experimentation, passion, and rebellion at the heart of rock and roll," Max Hollein, director of The Met, said in a statement.
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Instruments in the exhibit were played by artists such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, John Lennon, Joan Jett, Lady GaGa, Jimmy Page, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Joni Mitchell, Keith Richards, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen.
The more than 130 instruments on display will provide fans greater insight into some of their favorite musicians, Jayson Kerr Dobney, the museum's Frederick P. Rose Curator in Charge of the Department of Musical Instruments, said in a statement.
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"Instruments are some of the most personal objects connected to musicians, but as audience members we are primarily used to seeing them from far away, up on a stage in performance. This exhibition will provide a rare opportunity to examine some of rock and roll’s most iconic objects up close," Dobney said.
More than 40 posters, costumes and live performance videos will compliment the instruments in the exhibit.
Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll will be on display in the Met's main Fifth Avenue location until Oct. 1, museum officials said. The exhibit is a group effort by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, museum officials said.
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