Perhaps it was the fashion.
Perhaps the fame. Or perhaps that lipstick-blotted tissue and tawdry coke spoon?
Whatever it was: “David Bowie Is,” the blockbuster exhibition of the pop star’s legacy and accouterments, was a record-breaker for the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, museum officials said Tuesday. The show’s often-sold-out 15-week run drew more than 193,000 visitors, making it the most-attended show in the MCA’s 47 years. (The next best attendance in MCA history? A 2009 exhibit about sculptor Olafur Eliasson that pulled 163,000.)
The museum’s store didn’t fare too badly, either: It sold 7,000 “Bowie” catalogs and 14,000 “Bowie” T-shirts. By the end of the show’s run on Sunday, the exhibit was attracting long, snaking lines that circled the MCA.
“I was really surprised by the numbers,” said Michael Darling, the MCA’s chief curator. “I guess we had more conservative figures in mind but always remained hopeful for more. For it to blast through the ceiling was fun to hear. The last few weeks were huge. We were tracking optimistically. Then it just skyrocketed.”
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