Staying Forever 27 at Proud Gallery Camden

What do Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all have in common? Okay they all have the letters ‘I’ and ‘N’ in their names. Yes, they’re all iconic rock legends. And, they all took pleasure in copious chemical substances, which tragically lead to their untimely deaths, of which circumstances were often never fully explained. But the reason these five famous musicians are currently featuring in Proud Gallery’s latest exhibition in Camden is because they all died at the age of 27. Spookily coincidental?

Well not really, when you consider the pressures of fame and success, how hard and fast they all lived, and how they were all at the height of their musical creativity and careers when they died. This exhibition, Forever 27, takes its name from the infamous club of which these five posthumous members joined. But they are only the most prominent members. In fact there are over 30 musicians who died at the same age, including Dave Alexander of The Stooges and Ron McKernan of the Grateful Dead.

Proud Gallery is the perfect venue for such rock ‘n’ roll tributes, with its cobbled converted stable floors and seedy Camden undercurrent. The majority of the 60 photographs, many as yet unseen, are black and white and taken by such artists as Philip Townsend, Elliot Landy, Jill Gibson and Steve Double.

The photograph selection process is rather curious. Some artists are represented more than others: Kurt Cobain’s face emblazons 14 prints while Jim Morrison has been dedicated a paltry four. There are some poignant portraits of some atypically angelic looking young Rolling Stones, as well as a very haggard Janis Joplin (looking well beyond her 27 years in the Sixties). It’s a shame however that not enough care has been taken to preserve these valuable prints, as some have buckled within their frames under the humidity of the stuffy bar venue. A brilliant trip down memory lane for rockers young and old nevertheless.

The Forever 27 exhibition runs at Proud Camden until 9th November 2008
www.proud.co.uk