PERTH.- Joondalup Festival hosts a rare and intimate photographic series capturing David Bowie far from the spotlight — presented for the first time in Australia this March.

Christine de Grancy’s ‘A Day with David’ documents an extraordinary encounter on 8 September 1994, when Bowie — accompanied by Brian Eno, André Heller and de Grancy — visited the Maria Gugging Psychiatric Clinic near Vienna, home to a renowned community of Art Brut (outsider) artists.

Arriving at Joondalup Festival in the year that marks 10 years since Bowie’s passing, A Day with David offers a quietly powerful reminder of the “Starman” — not as spectacle, but as an artist still searching, listening and connecting.

Invited specifically for her quiet, empathetic approach, de Grancy captured Bowie as you’ve never seen him: Absorbed, serious and humble — crouching to examine August Walla’s painted garden house, listening closely to artists’ stories, sketching in a notebook, and sharing coffee at the House of Artists. As de Grancy described, he behaved “not like a global icon, but like an ordinary man intent on listening.”

The exhibition draws a clear line between creativity, mental health and authenticity, and shows how art can act as a bridge between vastly different worlds. Bowie’s visit coincided with his creative reconnection with Eno and would go on to influence the conceptual world of his 1995 album 1. Outside, shaped by Gugging’s raw, boundary-breaking spirit.

Joondalup Mayor Daniel Kingston said the exhibition will transform the Joondalup Contemporary Art Gallery into an immersive experience for visitors.

"This exhibition has captivated Bowie fans and audiences around the world and the City is excited that its Australian debut will happen in Joondalup, where we value the bold and creative.

“Ten years since his death, David Bowie's legacy still inspires people and I encourage residents and visitors to come to Joondalup to see this remarkable exhibition,” Mayor Kingston said.

Presented in collaboration with Santa Monica Art Museum, Christine de Grancy’s ‘A Day with David’ transforms the Joondalup Contemporary Art Gallery into an immersive experience featuring 28 framed black-and-white photographs, additional large-format prints, a video installation element, and a full-scale recreation of August Walla’s painted room.