The National Portrait Gallery in DC has assembled photos of the country’s 100 most iconic personalities for an exhibit titled “American Cool.”
“So much of what’s written about cool is about ‘what is cool,’ but the more important question is, ‘Who is cool?’ ” co-curator Joel Dinnerstein said.
“ ‘What is cool’ is synonymous with what’s fashionable in the moment. But when you talk about ‘who is cool,’ then you’re talking about impact.”
Dinnerstein, director of American Studies at Tulane University, and Frank Goodyear, co-director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, spent five years paring down a list of 500 names.
They judged on four criteria: an original, creative vision; a rebellious, generational impact; being visually recognizable; and having a lasting legacy.
“For that permanent and transformative change, I always think of Lenny Bruce,” Dinnerstein said. “We weren’t going back to Bob Hope and George Burns. You’re going to take chances now, and not just do shtick with written jokes.”