Manifesting Marilyn: The Making of an Icon is a free immersive exhibition, now open until August 2nd at Genesis House on Tenth Avenue, New York.
“The world knows Marilyn Monroe as an image, glamorous, timeless, mythic. This exhibition uncovers what the headlines often missed … While visitors move through reimagined headlines, an intimate office, a dedicated library, a vanity that reframes glamour as craft, a cinematic experience and a reflective new beginnings space, they encounter not a myth, but a woman who dreamed with intention and built a future beyond expectation.
The exhibition unfolds across six distinct spaces, each revealing a different dimension of Marilyn’s mind and method:
- The Headline Room – The Rewrite: This space challenges reductive narratives by reimagining headlines about Marilyn and restoring her as the author of her own story rather than a subject of public myth.
- Marilyn’s Office – Mind of the Strategist: Set within her working environment, this gallery presents Marilyn as a driven businesswoman through original documents, personal materials and artifacts that highlight her role as a strategic decision-maker.
- The Library: Featuring books from her personal collection, this space reveals Marilyn’s intellectual curiosity and engagement with literature, psychology and philosophy.
- The Vanity: This environment reframes glamour as an intentional practice, using personal objects and wardrobe to show how Marilyn constructed and controlled her public image.
- The Screen Experience – The Transformation: Through immersive visuals and her own voice, this cinematic installation traces her evolution from Norma Jeane to global icon, emphasizing the discipline and determination behind her transformation.
- The New Beginnings Hall: The final space invites visitors to reflect on their own next chapter and consider the legacy they will create.
Developed in partnership with Authentic Brands Group (Authentic), owner and steward of the Marilyn Monroe estate, the exhibition reflects a shared commitment to preserving and celebrating the legacy of one of the most important figures in arts and culture on what would have been her 100th birthday.”
The opening on June 2nd was attended by Camille Kostek, the model who also launched a lighting of the Empire State Building on June 1st (Marilyn’s 100th birthday); and actress Chloë Sevigny, who says: “Marilyn has always represented far more than the image people project onto her. What I find so compelling about Manifesting Marilyn is how it honours her ambition and the agency she claimed in shaping her own story. It feels incredibly resonant today …”
The exhibition also features items from Scott Fortner’s Marilyn Monroe Collection, including Oh Careless Love, a 1959 novel by Monroe biographer Maurice Zolotow; and The Miracles of Your Mind (1953), a self-help book which is still in print today. The writings of Dr. Joseph Murphy, an Irishman who moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s, are reminiscent of the Christian Science teachings of Marilyn’s childhood; and the book includes her pencilled notes and underlinings. (Gail Crowther critiques this book in the recently published Marilyn and Her Books.)
This black wool suit was designed for Marilyn by George Nardiello in 1955.
And finally, a green silk blouse worn by Marilyn to rehearsals for her ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ performance in 1962 was one of several garments by Emilio Pucci that she favoured in her final months.
The Marilyn Report 