Riflemaker 79 Beak Street, London W1 Tuesday 9 December 2008 – Saturday 17 January 2009
Press and private view: Monday 15th December, 7 – 9pm
The private file-folders of William S Burroughs (1914 – 1997), visionary author of Naked Lunch and The Soft Machine and primary member of the Beat Generation, go on display in the UK for the first time in an exhibition at Riflemaker from 9 December.
When, Burroughs, famed as a novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer, noted down ideas for future use he would invariably file them in US standard manila file-folders. Burroughs would adorn each folder inside and out with abstract marks using ink and gouache, often accompanied by a line or two of text.
The exhibition at Riflemaker features one hundred such works each representing and combining Burroughs various areas of creative activity – literature, visual mark-making and performance – and all derived from the very genus of an idea itself.
Life-File: The private File-Folders of William S. Burroughs
Riflemaker, 79 Beak Street, Soho, London, W1F 9SU
Website: Riflemaker.org
Exhibition open 9 December to 17 January
Christmas closure from 24 December to 4 January inclusive
Opening hours: Monday – Friday 10am – 6pm, Saturday 11am – 6pm
