About the project

June 9, 2021 – March 4, 2023

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts presented Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars, the first large-scale exhibition from Reed’s archive which the Library acquired in 2017. The exhibition displays the life and work of the icon whose profound influence—musically, visually, and culturally—still affects a range of artists and writers today.

Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars, taken from a lyric from “Romeo Had Juliette” from Reed’s solo album, New York, exhibits previously unseen and unheard work of a prolific and uncompromising artist—songwriter, musician, performer, poet, photographer, and tai chi practitioner. The story is told through the voices, images, and music of Reed’s music projects; through his performances and theatre works; the articles, books, and poems that he authored; his own photography; and his personal tai chi studies.

The exhibition offered visitors the opportunity to experience the full range of Reed’s technologically ambitious discography in the Lou Reed listening Room. This room allowed visitors to experience a range of Reed’s work in the original intended format. Most notably, the room enabled Metal Machine Trio: The Creation of the Universe, Lou Reed’s first and only sound art installation. Recorded live at New York’s Blender Theatre in 2009 with musicians John Zorn, Ulrich Krieger, and Sarth Calhoun, the gallery installation was composed of twelve loudspeakers in an ambisonic (or full sphere surround sound) arrangement to create a fully immersive 3-D sound environment. In collaboration with the acoustic specialists Arup in New York, Reed was able to recreate this groundbreaking composition for gallery visitors from exactly the same acoustic perspective he had while performing onstage.

To close the exhibition, visitors walked through an installation of record producer Hal Willner’s studio. Willner became Lou’s most trusted set of ears, producing his solo records Ecstasy, and The Raven, as well as live albums and compilations. Finally, it was their radio show New York Shuffle that bonded them in the medium of their youth. Freed from almost any constraints they created 86 two-hour episodes. Together they navigated the new, both musically and technologically. Hal collected over 200,000 MP3s – yet his strongest bond remained with the dustiest of records. This studio was the radio show’s brain trust, a sanctum of sounds, some so rare they may only be found there.

‘You Don’t Become Lou Reed Overnight.’ A New Exhibition Proves It.
— The New York Times

The exhibition is curated by Don Fleming and Jason Stern. Fleming served as the archivist for the Lou Reed Archive, and Stern as Reed’s Technical Director and Archivist during the artist’s lifetime.

Exhibition Design: Christine Rung
Graphic Design: Adam Cohen

The Lou Reed Listening Room and content design is led by Raj Patel at Arup, with Joseph Digerness, Xena Petkanas, Travis Martinez, Ed Arenius, and Léonard Roussel.

Photography by Max Touhey and Jonathan Blanc