To accompany the exhibition, Aubrey Williams: Elemental Force, join artist Hew Locke, art historian and curator Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani, for a discussion about Williams’ legacy and innovative approach to his practice. The talk will be moderated by art historian and curator Indie A. Choudhury. The talk takes place on the Gallery’s ground floor and has disabled access. The gallery’s bar will be open from 5.30 – 8.30 pm.

Dr. Hew Locke, OBE, RA was born in Edinburgh, raised in Guyana and lives in London. He knew Aubrey Williams personally from when he was a child in Guyana. In 2022, Locke's installation The Procession was presented by Tate Britain, London and he was commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to create an installation for its façade, titled Gilt. He recently curated the exhibition, What Have We Here? at The British Museum, London.

Dr. Maryam Ohadi-Hamadani  is an art historian, curator and Lecturer in History of Art, Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh. She has widely published on the postcolonial histories of African, Afro-Caribbean, Asian and Black British art in Britain and beyond. Funded by fellowships from Leverhulme and the Paul Mellon Centre, her current book project, The Commonwealth of Art and Visual Culture, examines the visual construction of the 'Commonwealth,' reflected or criticised in art practices, films and exhibitions produced between 1948-1978.

Dr. Indie A. Choudhury is an art historian and curator. She holds the post for Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Art at The Courtauld Institute of Art (Global Black Diasporas and Black Studies). She is currently working on the first monograph of Frank Bowling’s White Paintings as a body of work spanning more than six decades of his career. Recent and forthcoming publications include Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin published by Duke University Press and on Hew Locke published by Yale University Press. Recent exhibitions include In Praise of Black Errantry for Unit London at the Venice Biennale 2024.

Join October Gallery in marking the final day of the art of William S. Burroughs with extended opening hours and a celebratory gathering. The exhibition features rarely seen works from spray paint, ink and acrylic to markers and gunshots. More about the exhibition here

At 3 pm, the panel discussion What’s Left of a Radical Vision When It’s All Come True? will take place upstairs in the Theatre (Sign up for the waiting list). Following the discussion, The Cat Inside (2007), a soundscape by Ramuntcho Matta, will be played in the Gallery along with Matta’s film of the seminal Electronic Revolution, describing the concept and method of Burroughs and Brion Gysin’s genre-defining literary multimedia experiments.

Visitors can also browse a selection of books and catalogues by Burroughs and those who were closely connected to him. Books and catalogue selection

A discussion on how do we maintain legacies of queer and radical vision, on the occasion of an exhibition by William S. Burroughs. Panelists: Ira Silverberg, Andrew Durbin, Neil Bartlett, OBE, Kathelin Gray.

William S. Burroughs was a seer. Using new forms of writing for his visionary social satire, Naked Lunch, he altered the course of letters, foresaw the future of the planet and its inhabitants, and was censored in the U.S. upon publication in 1959. In a career that spanned more than fifty years, he continually broke boundaries, and moved into new forms including painting, film, musical collaborations, and acting. Burroughs and his work retain an ongoing influence nearly thirty years after his death. How do legacies of queer and outsider artists help navigate the daunting challenges and opportunities of the present moment?

The event is fully booked — sign up for the waiting list

5.00 pm Paid bar and specially curated queer soundscape in the Gallery
(free drop-in until 6.30 pm)

7.00 pm Film Screening (2h 16min)
Location: Theatre (2nd floor)*
Entry

Ahead of this special screening of Queer, visitors are invited to explore the exhibition. Immerse yourself in the world of William S. Burroughs from 5 pm accompanied by a curated playlist, a paid bar and the chance to browse Queer, the novel that inspired the film. Doors to the screening will open at 6.30 pm.

Queer, directed by Luca Guadagnino, is a 2024 adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ book of the same title starring Daniel Craig.

In 1950s Mexico City, William Lee, an American ex-pat in his late forties, leads a solitary life amidst a small American community. However, the arrival in town of Eugene Allerton, a young student, stirs William into finally establishing a "meaningful connection with someone."

Originally penned in 1952, Burroughs’ novel remains an iconic love story in LGBTQ literature and was unpublished until 1985.