Susana Rivas has opened the exhibition on the life of the American actress, model, singer and producer, which will run until 21 June
The Councillor for Culture, Susana Rivas, and the Director of the Chiclana Museum, Jesús Romero, have opened the exhibition ‘Marilyn 100 Years. In memoriam’, marking the centenary of the American actress’s birth. The exhibition will be open to the public until 21 June and will be complemented by a talk on Marilyn on 29 May.
“Although we are presenting a new exhibition today, you could say it is a revival of the one we launched four years ago to mark the 60th anniversary of her death. An exhibition that had a huge impact,” said Susana Rivas, who added that “now we want to focus more on the person, not the actress”. “1 June will mark the 100th anniversary of her birth and we wanted to highlight the significant value she represented and the diversity she championed,” she emphasised.
For his part, Jesús Romero highlighted that “we wanted to remember the woman behind the film star”. “Sometimes, behind a great woman there is a great woman, and that is the case with Marilyn,” commented the director of the Chiclana Museum.
It is worth recalling that four years ago, to mark the 60th anniversary of her death, the Chiclana Museum dedicated one of its temporary exhibitions to the memory of Marilyn Monroe. For whilst the star may have died, the woman was born. This exhibition is dedicated to that woman, who both embodies and endures stardom; through a brief overview and some twenty written and graphic documents – along with a few supplementary pieces – it brings her closer to us, moving beyond the clichés.
Although she is such a powerful figure, so dazzling, so all-consuming, it is perhaps worth remembering that behind Marilyn there is a woman, a great woman: Norma Jane, the name she was born with on 1 June 1926 in Los Angeles (California) and which she legally changed to Monroe in 1956—the name of the artist she had always dreamed of being, of the great artist she already was—ten years after she had signed her contract with 20th Century Fox. Between those two dates, she had already delivered some of her most memorable performances in very different genres: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), Niagara (1953), River of No Return (1954) and The Seven Year Itch (1955), amongst others.
Her extensive filmography should not make us forget that, as well as being an actress, Marilyn Monroe was a model, singer and film producer.
But it is not only her obvious beauty that should be highlighted in her dazzling career. Her sensitivity and intelligence, her commitment to her profession and her high standards for herself are also worthy of note. This is the focus of this exhibition, which aims to reveal the human being behind the myth without seeking to dismantle the myth that she herself rightfully embodies.
Norma Jane was born in Los Angeles on 1 June 1926 and, as Marilyn, passed away on 4 August 1962. She was 36 years old. Her grave is located in the Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery.
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