A new art exhibition in London depicts Michael Jackson as a savior, an icon, a mask and a mystery. The new National Portrait Gallery show explores how many contemporary artists have been drawn to the late King of Pop, as an artistic inspiration, a tragic figure and a fascinating enigma.

Gathering work by 48 artists from around the world, the show includes Jackson-inspired paintings, photographs, videos, textiles and ceramics. 

NICHOLAS CULLINAN, CURATOR "It seems timely to do this exhibition nine years after he died and the year in which he would have turned 60-years-old. I think we can now begin to think about Michael Jackson in a slightly more historical perspective and think about what he accomplished, in terms of breaking down barriers, but also what he represented and symbolized to many different people."

The exhibition includes works that reflect on what Jackson meant to his fans, his place in African-American culture, the way he manipulated fame - and the way fame manipulated him. US artist Todd Gray, who worked for Jackson as a photographer in the 1970s and 80s, recalls him as a sweet-natured youth. Gray has reworked his old photos by layering other pictures over Jackson's face, including images from Ghana, where the artist has a home.

TODD GRAY, PHOTOGRAPHER AND ARTIST "He has changed so much over the years that we all have our own idea of who Michael is, and it depends on how old we are, what generation we're from, that we fixate on that. So, I wanted to address that phenomenon by obscuring his face so that you have to evoke the image that you have of him and that you'll think of him not as a celebrity, but as a man of colour from African descent." 

Jackson had already been a child star when he became an international icon in 1983 with the release of "Thriller," one of the best-selling albums of all time. His music, moves, style, and innovations in staging and video had a huge impact on popular culture. He also struggled with the limelight and died in 2009 of a prescription drug overdose at age 50. TODD GRAY,

PHOTOGRAPHER AND ARTIST "Looking back, I hadn't seen any human with that much talent, that much creative imagination in the music scene. And so, I thought; 'He could not have come here.' And so, I thought of Sun Ra, Sun Ra the jazz musician who said he came from Saturn, so I figured Michael Jackson must be in that same lineage and he came from the cosmos, here."

'Michael Jackson: On the Wall' runs in London from Thursday until October 21.  It moves to the Grand Palais in Paris from November to February, then travels to Bonn, Germany and Espoo, Finland.