The Brazilian photographer Alex Korolkovas, who lives in New York, has just opened the exhibition “Made in Bowie” at the TribeTokes CBD Showroom and Art Gallery, running until October 31, documenting his incredible experience when he attended David Bowie’s first concert in São Paulo 30 years ago.
“This is the story of how I gave him a t-shirt and he helped me buy my first professional camera (well, sort of …). At the time, I had a second-hand Canon SLR and never dreamed of having another,” he says.
It was 1990, and Alex, a die-hard Bowie fan, bought the tickets months before the show. “A week before the performance, I found a t-shirt shop with photos of great pop singers like Madonna, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Prince, and Bowie. The images are from a book published by Rolling Stone magazine. The one of Bowie, I later discovered, was taken by Herb Ritts (1952-2002), the darling of celebrities in the 1980s and 1990s. Obviously, I bought it to wear to the show.”
Excited, he showed the new acquisition to his family, who were 
impressed with the quality of the print and fabric. That’s when an idea struck him. At the time, his parents owned a clothing store in São Paulo, and they helped him buy some t-shirts wholesale. He then printed the same photo and headed to the stadium (Parque Antártica, now Allianz Parque) to sell them, thus doubling his investment with an eye on a new camera.
“I went to the concert venue a day early with a bag full of t-shirts. In less than an hour, I sold that first batch and more than doubled my money. I made even more the next day. I arrived at the stadium in the morning, sold t-shirts until the gates opened at 2 PM, and saved some for the show. When Bowie stepped on stage, it was electrifying! I was so close to him that I couldn’t believe it. I started using some rolls of film. At one point, I was closer to him than I could have ever imagined and threw a t-shirt in his direction. I was surprised when he caught it and danced with it for the rest of the song before throwing it back to the audience. I never knew who caught it and was even sad that I couldn’t retrieve the t-shirt. Last year, during a brief visit to Brazil, revisiting my things, I found the negatives from the show and brought them to New York and digitized them. To my surprise, besides some great forgotten images, I also captured the moment he caught and opened the shirt. I realized that, after all, I got the shirt back. I bought my first semi-professional camera with the profits from those shows,” Alex celebrates.
As a Bowie fan, the images taken 30 years ago carry great significance for Alex, and thinking of other fans of the artist, he decided to share these unique moments. The photographer hopes that his images can transport the audience back to the 90s and portray his love for Bowie. In addition to being in-person, the event can also be viewed on the photographer’s website.
Service:
TribeTokes CBD Showroom and Art Gallery, 10014
807 Washington St., South of Gansevoort,
New York, NY 10014
VIVIANE FAVER
Journalist
vfaver@gmail.com