Gary Oldman will provide the narration on a forthcoming app based on the David Bowie Is… exhibition, it’s been confirmed.
The exhibition – which explored “the broad range of the late artist’s collaborations with artists and designers in the fields of fashion, sound, graphics, theatre, art, and film” – shut permanently back in July, five years after it debuted at the V&A in London (where it became the renowned institution’s most-visited touring exhibition). Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh curated the exhibition, which drew over 2million visitors across 12 cities.
Now, after the app was announced last year, it has been announced that Gary Oldman will be the voice for the project. The pair enjoyed a close and enduring friendship in the years preceding Bowie’s death in 2016 – with Oldman appearing in Bowie’s controversial video for ‘The Next Day’.
“This brings the amazing David Bowie is exhibition to a wider audience,” said Oldman of his involvement. “It’s great that his fans get to experience it. It was a privilege to be involved.”
The Augmented Reality (AR) app will be available in iOS and Android, and will grant fans access to the show’s hundreds of costumes, videos, handwritten lyrics, original works of art and much more. Dozens of items not featured in the original exhibition will also be included, including some entirely new and exclusive to the AR version of the app.
It will arrive on January 8 at a cost of £7.99.
Gary Oldman, the legendary British Oscar, Golden Globe and three time Bafta-winning actor is to provide the narration for the new David Bowie is mobile app released on January 8th. (https://t.co/ZJeKdrgUE9) Go here for the full press release: https://t.co/EHK8S99SxC #DBisVirtual pic.twitter.com/hE91yOaLWa
— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) January 3, 2019
Last month, the recording of Bowie’s legendary Glastonbury set in 2000 finally arrived on DVD.
In a five star review, NME wrote: “In sitting his newer material alongside the unretired classics with a performance so consummate and a band so accomplished, Bowie reset the dialogue to focus on his vitality, paving the way for his latter work on ‘Heathen’, ‘Reality, ‘The Next Day’ and his perfect curtain call, ‘Blackstar’. He reclaimed his legend, and gave Glastonbury a night for all time.”