9 May 2006

It’s the Glitterati

Dust off the tiara, slip in to your most glamorous party dress and throw the fur stole around the shoulders to walk the red carpet at Christchurch’s society event of the year – Glitterati – the celebrity opening of the Cecil Beaton portrait exhibition at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu. (Principal Exhibition Sponsor: Strategy Advertising & Design).

Glitterati will be an evening of glitz and glamour on Friday, 26 May, to celebrate the opening of Cecil Beaton: Portraits. Join MC for the evening, radio celebrity, Gary McCormick, in a rare opportunity for the public to attend an exhibition opening at the Gallery.

Grab a partner and dance the night away in true Beaton style to Tim Beveridge’s mesmerising music from the classic era of jazz and swing, reliving the era of glamour, style and elegance which Beaton captured on film to create a historical record of the 20th Century.

“It will be a night of pure glamour and so reminiscent of the lifestyle Beaton himself led during mid-last century,” says Gallery Curator Peter Vangioni.

Strategy Design & Advertising are proud to be associated with this exhibition, and in helping to bring it to Christchurch, says Strategy’s Managing Director Geoff Cranko. “Beaton is renowned for his images of elegance, glamour and style. Glitterati will be a fitting tribute to launch this major international exhibition at the Gallery.”

Cecil Beaton: Portraits is the first major overview of celebrity photographer Cecil Beaton’s work since the late 1960s. It brings together more than 100 portraits from five remarkable decades of Beaton’s career. The exhibition captures 50 years of the celebrity world of the mid 20th Century – fashion, art, literature and show business.

The exhibition is being held exclusively in New Zealand at the Christchurch Art Gallery, from 27 May to 10 September 2006. It is the first time there has ever been a major retrospective of Beaton’s work in New Zealand.

Highlights of Cecil Beaton: Portraits include his 1956 portrait of Marilyn Monroe, from her own collection, which is accompanied by his handwritten eulogy about her, and pages from Beaton’s snapshot album of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s wedding, showing idyllically situated portraits of Wallis Simpson in the grounds of the Chateau de Cande, France.

Tickets to Glitterati are $120 per person and available from the Gallery Shop or telephone (03) 941 7388.

Cecil Beaton: Portraits at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu
Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch, 27 May to 10 September 2006
Exhibition admission: $12/$10/children free

GLITTERATI SUPPORTED BY
Strategy Advertising & Design - Principal Exhibition Sponsor
Montana Wines – Event Sponsor
The Tasman Charitable Trust – Season of Photography Principal Funder
The Press – Season of Photography Media Partner

ENDS

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