A (Very) Brief History of Music

A (Very) Brief History of Music takes as a given that any attempt to tell the history of a discipline in one exhibition is impossible. So, we’ve decided to present a mix of works that reference traditional ballads, jazz, rock and roll, and other genres in the Museum’s smallest gallery space.

The installation is anchored by Catherine Irwin’s trompe l'oeil sculpture of a telephone pole with photo-copied concert posters by Louisville bands stapled to it, acknowledging the promotional efforts required to keep building a local audience in the years before the internet and social media. 

John Lennon and Yoko Ono are depicted in a lithograph by Lennon from the portfolio Bag One, based on line drawings that he made for Ono as a wedding gift. Photographs document celebrated musicians including Louis Armstrong, Debbie Harry, Billie Holiday, Fela Kuti, Liberace, Patti Smith, and Frank Sinatra. Composer and folklorist John Jacob Niles is pictured with his dulcimer by Doris Ulmann, with whom he traveled to visit rural communities throughout Appalachia. 

The influence that performers can have on their fans is exemplified by two photographs of young boys dressed as the members of KISS. With their makeup and costumes, the band members took on the personas of comic book-style characters: the Starchild, the Demon, the Spaceman, and the Catman.