CURRENT EXHIBITION

WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS

6 March – 5 April 2025

**William S. Burroughs**, *The Old Assassin*, 1989.
Mixed Media on board, 50.5 x 76.5 cm.
© Estate of William S. Burroughs.

October Gallery presents William S. Burroughs, a solo exhibition of rarely seen works which features paintings and drawings created from a variety of materials. From spray paint, ink and acrylic to markers and gunshots, Burroughs' art is an expedition, identifying portals to unknown worlds and intelligences. His way of seeing is as a creative observer of states of mind. “The pictures constantly change because you are drawn into time travel on a network of associations.” For Burroughs, everything is alive, and his artwork explores this idea, as he did through words in his genre-bending writings. He belongs to no school of art; what he paints expands on the work he has developed throughout his career, in words, multimedia experiments and image-making.

Now one hundred and eleven years since William S. Burroughs’ birth, the exhibitionhighlights the personal intelligence of his work.

Burroughs was a prolific writer. He also practiced visual art throughout his life. For decades he produced photographs, collages and films. In multimedia collaborations with Brion Gysin, they pioneered incisive tools - ‘cut-ups’- to deconstruct mechanisms of institutionalized control systems that corrupt inborn intelligence. On the death of Gysin in 1986, he became a painter. In 1987, he began painting every day. October Gallery first mounted an exhibition of his art the year after, in 1988. Although his literature had been censored in Britain, he lived in London during the late 1960’s and early ‘70s, making strong connections with many noteworthy figures of the British art scene such as Francis Bacon. References to Burroughs’ works and creative practice are now deeply embedded in Western culture, from painting to film to advertising to literature to journalism to music. His 1952 novel, Queer, is the foundation of Luca Guadagnino’s current film of the same name, starring Daniel Craig.

October Gallery is thrilled to announce a series of insightful events including film screenings with Q&As and gallery talks that will accompany the forthcoming exhibition William S. Burroughs. Presented by those who were influenced by his work or knew and collaborated with Burroughs, the series begins with a Gallery Talk on 8th March and continues until 5th April, 2025. For the full programme see our Events Page

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FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION

TRANSVANGARDE: Luminous Matter

10 April – 17 May 2025

**Xu Zhongmin**, *Egg shape B Red*, 2024.
Stainless steel, acrylic, aluminium disc, mechanical transmission, LED, PE resin, alloy, 62 x 40 x 40 cm.

**Huang Xu**, *Flower No.2 (Chrysanthemum)*, 2011.
Edition of 6, Giclee print, 120 x 120 cm.

October Gallery presents Transvangarde: Luminous Matter, an exhibition that investigates the diverse outcomes of a meditative approach to artistic practice. Each of the artists presented was raised in the vitally different milieux of the near and far east. Each brings a fresh perspective to illuminate their experience of the world, as underpinned and enriched by the cultural and philosophical predispositions of places far beyond the western pale.

Central to this theme of interactiv e exchange between worldsare fascinating new works by the Chinese artist, Xu Zhongmin. His most recent Egg Series are dynamic sculptures which radiate with a bewitching luminescence that plays with and challenges the spectators’ understanding of just what it is they are seeing.

Other highlights include ethereal paintings of Kenji Yoshida that consist of gold, silver and precious metals on painted canvases, while paintings by Govinda Sah ‘Azad are reinforced by his fascination with the indeterminate matter of clouds which allows him to meditate upon the more spiritual aspects of Nature.

Renowned for his monochromatic canvases in striking colours, Tian Wei explores the plasticity of the written word and its associated fluidity of meaning. Golnaz Fathi’s works are paintings with an instinctively bold abstraction informed by her former rigorous training in calligraphy, expressing emotions on canvas that go far beyond the realm of simple words.

Jukhee Kwon creates works from abandoned and disused books. Recently, Kwon has begun working with traditional Korean techniques of folding paper, (jong-i jeobgi) in which a painstakingly precise, almost meditative concentration, is required to fold pages. Also exhibited are arresting large-scale photographic works by Huang Xu from his Flower Series. By using high resolution 3D scanners, he creates subtle effects by compressing the superabundant data down to produce images of haunting luminosity.

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NEWS, EVENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS

WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
FILMS & TALKS

8th March - 5th April, 2025

To accompany the solo exhibition of works by William S. Burroughs, October Gallery will holding a compelling series of talks and film screenings.

Brion Gysin, William Burroughs at the Institut Française (Naked Lunch Launch series, Paris, October 1959), (detail), 1959.
Black and white photographic print, 19 x 25 cm.

See the full Programme

Obituary: Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah

Born: October,1956 – Died: Thursday 6th February, 2025.

All the directors and staff of October Gallery, London, were immensely saddened to learn that our dear friend, the artist Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah, fondly known as ‘Brother’ to all his friends, passed away on the 6th of February, in Ghana. He was 68 years old.

Owusu Ankomah

Read the Obituary here

Photo: Jonathan Greet, 2014.

EL ANATSUI: AFTER THE RED MOON
Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai, China

30th September, 2024 – 7th October, 2025

El Anatsui: After the Red Moon has begun its highly anticipated world tour, making a global debut at the prestigious Museum of Art Pudong (MAP), Shanghai, where it will be on display until October 2025. El Anatsui’s cascading metal sculptures have dramatically transformed MAP's entrance lobby and Hall X, offering visitors an immersive experience of his masterful exploration of history, materiality and transformation. This global tour marks a significant milestone in Anatsui's career, and we congratulate him on this extraordinary achievement, which continues to captivate audiences around the world.

This exhibition was originally conceived and commissioned as the Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui: Behind the Red Moon for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, London in 2023.

Installation view of El Anatsui: After the Red Moon, 2024.

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Alessandro Wang ©️ Museum of Art Pudong. Courtesy of the Artist

New Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga prints available

Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga’s striking new works from his current solo exhibition Nature Morte can now be acquired as giclee prints at the gallery and from our online store.

Energie red (Red Energy) and Ces êtres à part (Those Other People) poignantly confront the human toll and environmental devastation caused by industrial-scale mining, driven by the relentless demand for modern technology.

Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Ces êtres à part (Those Other People), 2024.

Edition of 25. Archival giclée print (HDX ink) on 100% cotton 300gms archival paper, 40 x 43.4 cm (image size). Signed by the artist

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EDDY KAMUANGA ILUNGA at Louvre Abu Dhabi

29th January - 25th May 2025

Louvre Abu Dhabi presents Louvre Abu Dhabi presents Kings and Queens of Africa: Forms and Figures of Power, featuring Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga’s striking painting Oubliez le passé et vous perdez les deux yeux.

In this work, Kamuanga draws inspiration from the endangered Mangbetu people, originally from Sudan and later settlers in the northeastern Kongo Kingdom in the 1500s. Caught between tradition and modernity, the Mangbetu represent a vanishing cultural heritage, embodying resilience and identity amid change.

Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Oubliez le passé et vous perdez les deux yeux, 2016.
Acrylic and oil on canvas, 200 x 220 cm.

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JULIEN SINZOGAN at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

21st February – 1st June, 2025

The Fitzwilliam Museum’s upcoming exhibition explores the complex history of the struggle to abolish transatlantic slavery, highlighting the individuals, communities, and movements that fought against oppression.

Among the featured works is a striking piece Land Ho! by Julien Sinzogan, whose intricate pen-and-ink compositions draw from the annual Egúngún masquerades of Yorubaland. These ceremonies, where ancestral spirits reunite with the living, serve as a powerful metaphor for return and remembrance.

Julien Sinzogan, Land Ho!, 2010.
Coloured inks and acrylic on paper, 150 x 110 cm.
© Julien Sinzogan. Private Collection.

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LR VANDY at The Artist’s Garden
The roof of Temple tube station, London, WC2R 2PH

3rd October, 2024 – 3rd September, 2025

The Artist’s Garden and theCOLAB proudly present M A R Y M A R Y, a landmark outdoor sculpture exhibition in central London showcasing the work of nine women artists, including LR Vandy. It is set within The Artist's Garden — a once-overlooked half-acre rooftop above Temple tube station, now the world’s first sculpture garden dedicated to women artists.

LR Vandy, Superhero Cog Woman #01, 2019/2024. Installation view, MARY MARY at theCOLAB The Artist's Garden, Temple Station roof terrace, 2024. Image courtesy theCOLAB and © Nick Turpin.

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EL ANATSUI at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark .

11th October, 2024 - 27th April, 2025

El Anatsui's installation Akua's Surviving Children is now on view at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in the new exhibition OCEAN. Anatsui discovered these driftwood logs on the shores of Hellebaek in Denmark, and upon examining the weathered wood, he drew a poignant connection to the victims of slavery.

OCEAN is an exhibition, where history and the present meet in an intersection between art and science.

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SANTOS MOTOAPOHUA DE LA TORRE and EL ANATSUI at Fondation Opale

Lens, Switzerland

15th December, 2024 – 20th April, 2025

The exhibition NOTHING TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR THE GODS at Fondation Opale highlights the intersection of art and spirituality and unfolds in three steps with more than 60 works.

The exhibition seeks to lift the veil on the visual expressions of Indigenous cultures, often ignored in the context of contemporary art, and to reveal their current relevance with featured artists such as El Anatsui and Huichol artist Santos Motoapohua de la Torre.

Santos Motoapohua de la Torre, Dos Divinidades: Tatewari y el Águila, 2018.

Beads, beeswax and plywood, 150 x 120 cm.

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VISTING OCTOBER GALLERY

Bloomsbury, London

October Gallery has been instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists, including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraïchi, Romuald Hazoumè, Nnenna Okore, Laila Shawa and Kenji Yoshida. The Gallery promotes the Transvangarde, the very best in contemporary art from around the planet, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, writers, intellectuals and artists, and hosts talks, performances and seminars, see www.octobergallery.co.uk/events

The rich diversity of art presented is an inspiration to collectors and enthusiasts. Institutions such as the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany; Setagagya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan have all collected works from October Gallery.

Founded in 1979, October Gallery is a charitable trust which is supported by sales of art, rental of the Gallery's unique facilities, grants from various funding bodies and the active support of dedicated artists, musicians, writers and many friends from around the world. The Gallery’s Education Department is inclusive of all ages from under 5’s to PGCE student and delivers a wide range of provision, see www.octobergalleryeducation.com

October Gallery is open from 12:30 to 17:30 pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Gallery is closed during official holidays and the entire month of August.

October Gallery Cafe is open from 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Tuesday to Friday.

ACCESSIBILITY

There are two steps at the main entrance, each has a rise of 160mm and a 310mm tread (no handrail). The main entrance push door is 750mm wide.
Assisted or ramp access at the Gallery’s main entrance is available upon request.

Chairs can be found in the Gallery space.
The refectory is fully accessible by wheelchair.
Access to the courtyard has a 100mm ramp down coming from the corridor door.
There is also an accessible toilet in the Courtyard.

October Gallery is a Grade II listed building and therefore has no lift access to rooms above the ground floor. This includes the Theatre, the Clubroom and the first floor.

We welcome all visitors and will do our best to accommodate specific needs. Please do let us know in advance if there is anything in particular, we can help with. Call + 44 (0)20 7242 7367 or email gallery@octobergallery.co.uk preferably a day in advance.

October Gallery Education supported by:

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