NORFOLK, Va. — A new exhibit at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk features an intimate look at the start of Beatlemania in the 1960s from someone right in the heart of it.
Sir Paul McCartney took photographs as the Beatles rocketed to stardom, but the pictures were never printed. That is until 2020, when they were uncovered in McCartney’s personal archive.
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“It’s really showing us the Beatlemania trip that you thought you knew from their point of view,” said Lloyd DeWitt, senior curator at the Chrysler Museum. “You see the friendship but you also see the kind of crazy atmosphere that they were at the center of, and you get to relive that moment.”
The exhibit made its debut at the National Portrait Gallery in London earlier this year. Instead of having t-shirts and tote bags tied to the exhibit imported from London, McCartney’s team felt it would be better for the environment for the items to be reproduced stateside.
The museum chose Prince Ink Print Shop on Granby Street in Norfolk to help source and print t-shirts and tote bags for sale. The items were selected by McCartney himself.
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"Everything has to be eco-conscious, everything needs to be sweatshop free, really high quality top-tier materials,” said Lauren White, account manager at Prince Ink Print Shop. "Paul McCartney has a huge mission when it comes to global consciousness when it comes to sustainability and human practices, and for us that's in line with kind of the things we do as well."
The exhibit —Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64 Eyes of the Storm—is in member previews on Wednesday and opens to the public on Thursday. It will be on view until April 7, 2024.
