L'Ombre Invisible in London
FREE ENTRY
Library opening hours
17th May - 1st June 2018
First Floor Gallery
Westminster Arts Library
35 St Martins Street
London
WC2H 2CP
WC2H 2CP
A visual portrait of the late, great Beat writer, artist and provocateur WILLIAM S.BURROUGHS' London life curated by X-RAY AUDIO's Stephen Coates and Paul Heartfield with Barry Miles.
Private view: 6.30 pm 16th May
Email info @ antiquebeat.co.uk for details
WILLIAM BURROUGHS moved to London in the winter of 1959-60 in order to be near his boyfriend, Ian Sommerville, who was finishing his studies at Cambridge University. He lived in London, on-and-off, until 1974, at first in a series of hotels, and from 1967, in Duke St. St. James’s, in Mayfair.
He used photography as tool: by taking pictures of view from his window he saw the rooftops anew each day. He took multiple photographs of friends and random people to assemble visual composites in his mind that he could use to create characters in his writing. He made photographic montages from pictures of his family, partners and friends, photographed them, then re-arranged them: each montage having a different emotional value according to the placement and dominance of the different elements.
The pictures were not stuck down like traditional collages, they only existed in the photographs. He inadvertently broke the rules and created new methodologies in his pursuit of ways of freezing his emotional and creative responses to different stimuli and situations. These photographs were given to his friend BARRY MILES when Burroughs moved back to the USA in 1974. Burroughs’ photographs are supported and contextualised by photographs that Miles took of him in the years 1972-4 that are also on display.
A small selection of limited edition prints signed by Miles will be available to order.
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In association with the exhibition, on the evening of May 30th, Miles will be in conversation with historian Frank Rynne. See HERE for details.
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At 2pm, 26th May, there will be a guided walk of Burroughs London with sixties underground publisher Jim Pennigton and writer Antony Clayton. Details HERE.
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At 2pm, 26th May, there will be a guided walk of Burroughs London with sixties underground publisher Jim Pennigton and writer Antony Clayton. Details HERE.
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Watch Miles in conversation about Burroughs' London Life below
Watch Miles in conversation about Burroughs' London Life below
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WILLIAM SEWARD BURROUGHS II (February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. Burroughs was a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author whose influence is considered to have affected a range of popular culture as well as literature. Burroughs wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays. Five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, and made many appearances in films.
BARRY MILES is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books on the Beats, including biographies of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and two on William Burroughs: ‘El Hombre Invisible’ and ‘William S. Burroughs- A Life.’ He has written a book on The Beat Hotel, as well as catalogued Burroughs’ archives and compiled his bibliography. His other books include biographies of Frank Zappa and Paul McCartney.
WILLIAM SEWARD BURROUGHS II (February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. Burroughs was a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author whose influence is considered to have affected a range of popular culture as well as literature. Burroughs wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays. Five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, and made many appearances in films.
BARRY MILES is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books on the Beats, including biographies of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski and two on William Burroughs: ‘El Hombre Invisible’ and ‘William S. Burroughs- A Life.’ He has written a book on The Beat Hotel, as well as catalogued Burroughs’ archives and compiled his bibliography. His other books include biographies of Frank Zappa and Paul McCartney.
In the 1960s, he was co-owner of the super influential Indica Gallery and helped start the independent newspaper International Times. He remains friends with many of the surviving icons of the era and had unrivalled insiders view of the so called Swinging Sixties and Beat Generation.
SALON FOR THE CITY is an ANTIQUE BEAT production