In one room, visitors walk through a replica of the disheveled apartment The Rolling Stones once lived in. Next, it is as if visitors are backstage with the Stones in the members’ dressing rooms.

Encapsulating what it meant to live and breathe rock ‘n’ roll, “Exhibitionism—The Rolling Stones” shows visitors a more personal side of the Stones and illustrates what it meant to be part of  the band. 

“Exhibitionism,” held at Navy Pier, opened April 15 and will run until July 30. 

“Aside from the music that’s been so fantastic, [the Stones] have impacted other areas of our culture, from art and design, to stage and set design, to fashion and photography,” said curator Ileen Gallagher. 

Gallagher said she worked with the Stones for about 18 months, collaborating on the design and content of the exhibition. Working with the band helped push the exhibit’s creative envelope, she added. 

“Exhibitionism” illustrates the influence the Stones have had throughout the years by presenting everything from its recording equipment to the guitars members have used over the years. In the beginning, visitors walk through a replica of the Edith Grove, London apartment, Gallagher said. The walls of the exhibit are filled with posters and other band memorabilia, such as the history of the classic mouth logo. 

There is another gallery filled with videos of the Stones in interviews and performing, narrated by filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Gallagher said. Right before the end, visitors come face to face with the original outfits the band wore on tour, with some designed by Alexander McQueen. 

“The style gallery [is impressive] because not only does it talk      about the clothes, but it talks about the significant cultural moments that they participated in,” Gallagher said. 

Local photographer Paul Natkin has been photographing the band since 1978 and has five photos on display at the exhibition. Some of his other work is on display at Navy Pier in a gallery on the first floor titled “All Access With Paul Natkin.” 

Natkin said having the exhibit in Chicago holds significance to the band. Before they formed, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met on a train platform in London, both carrying bags with Chicago’s Chess Records labels. Bonding over Chicago blues music contributed to the band’s formation. 

“[The Stones] put out a blues album this year, playing all the blues songs they probably heard carrying under their arms at that train station,” Natkin said. 

Fan Joseph Madonia, an adjunct professor in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department, said he had his musical epiphany in the fifth grade. Then, Madonia bought one of the Stones’ albums. The band is great musically because of its blues undertones, he added. 

“[The Stones] took the best of American music, based in blues and rock ‘n’ roll, and integrated it with this witty tradition of the English,” Madonia said. “[That] washed up on our shores and became one of the biggest influences of [American music].” 

Natkin said the band has kept the same professionalism and stage presence since it started 55 years ago. From writing what he calls the greatest rock song ever, “Satisfaction,” to captivating performances, the Stones proves  itself  to still be an influential band, he added.

“They’ve always been my favorite band, and when I was [younger], my goal in life, being in music business, was to work with them,” Natkin said. “It worked, and they’re still my favorite band.”