William S. Burroughs and the Arts: A Bibliography

Reports from the Bibliographic Bunker

Jed Birmingham on William S. Burroughs Collecting

William Burroughs in Artists’ Magazines

1959

Semina, No. 4 (1959). {M&M C11} “Excerpt from “[Have You Seen] Pantapon [sic] Rose[?].” Excerpt from Naked Lunch. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Larkspur, California, 1955-1964 (1-9). Wallace Berman. See “Semina Culture”

1960

Kulchur, [No. 1] (Spring 1960). {M&M C19} “The Conspiracy.” New York, 1960-1965 (1-20). Marc Schleifer, Lita Hornick and others. See “Kulchur”

1961

Kulchur, [No.] 3 (1961). {M&M C36} “In Search of Yage.”

Rhinozeros, No. 5 (1961). {M&M C38} “Windhand in die Tür verklemmt / Wind Hand Caught in the Door.” German translation by Anselm Hollo. Berlin, 1960-1965 (1-10). Rolf-Gunter Dienst and Klaus-Peter Dienst. See “Rhinozeros” and “Burroughs in Germany and Belgium”

1962

Rhinozeros, No. 6 (2 July 1962). {M&M C43} “Novia [sic; i.e., Nova] Express.”

Rhinozeros, No. 7 (1962). {M&M C45} “Be Cheerful Sir, Our Revels Touching Circumstance.”

1964

Fuck You / A Magazine of the Arts, Vol. 7, No. 5 (September 1964). {M&M C80} “Fluck [sic] You Fluck [sic] You Fluck [sic] You.” New York, 1962-1965 (1-13). Ed Sanders. See “Fuck You”

Rhinozeros, No. 9 (1964). {M&M C90} “Text.” German translation by Anselm Hollo.

Signals: New Bulletin of Signals, London, Vol. 1, Nos. 3 & 4 (October–November 1964) {M&M C87} “Takis…” London: Centre for Advanced Creative Study, 1964-1966 (1-11). Paul Keeler (director) and David Medella (editor).

From Gwen Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art: “Signals (spelled Signalz in the first issue) was published by the Centre for Advanced Creative Study, which would become the legendary Signals Galley, a vital center for kinetic and experimental art. Both magazine and gallery featured avant-garde European and Latin America artists, including Jesus Rafael Soto, Takis, Lygia Clark, Sergio de Camargo, Carlos Cruz-Diaz, Li Yuan-chia, Gerhard von Grevenitz, Eduardo Chillida, and Marcela Salvadori. Named after a series of tensile sculptures by Takis, Signals published artists’ writings, documentation, critical writings, and news in a large-format tabloid. The following editorial statement appeared in the first issue:

This is the first number of Signalz, the monthly news bulletin for the Centre for Advanced Creative Study. Signalz will contain news items on the activities of the Centre, documentation, and critical studies on the Centre’s artists, as well as original writings by the artists themselves. . . .Signalz shall bring to the attention of the artist new developments in technology and science which might be of assistance in the formation of the artist’s discipline, in the choice of his materials and the improvement of his technique. We hope to provide a forum for all those who believe in the correlation of the arts and Art’s imaginative integration with technology, science, architecture, and our entire environment. We believe that such an integration can only be accomplished by more rigorous means: by the exercise of the highest aesthetic standards, and when society gives to the artist its available materials, its support — and complete freedom in the pursuit of his (and the artist’s) art.

1965

Bulletin from Nothing, No. 1 ([1965]). {M&M C117} “Composite Text.” San Francisco, 1964-1965 (1-2). Claude Pélieu. See “Bulletin from Nothing”

Bulletin from Nothing, No. 2 (1965). {M&M C123} “Palm Sunday Tape.” Two-column style layout.

1967

Aspen, Nos. 5 & 6 (Fall/Winter 1967). “Nova Express (1964): (Excerpts).” 7″ flexidisc. New York: Roaring Fork Press, 1965-1971 (1-10). Phyllis Johnson, plus numerous guest editors and designers. See chapter 2 of Allen’s Artists’ Magazines.

“Aspen: The Magazine in a Box was a multimedia magazine in a cardboard box that included unbound pamphlets, posters, Super 8mm films, and flexi-disc records. Named after Aspen, Colorado, it initially highlighted the town’s rich cultural and recreational offerings, including evens at the Aspen Institute, cross-country skiing, Colorado wildlife, and regional architecture, accompanied by jazz and classical records. Starting with issue 3, designed by Andy Warhol and David Dalton in the form of a box of Fab laundry detergent, Aspen became an experimental artists’ magazine. Each subsequent issue of the magazine was sui generis: issue 4, designed by Quentin Fiore, focused on the ideas of Marshall McLuhan, issue 5+6, edited by Brian O’Doherty, highlighted minimalism and conceptual art, issue 6A was a reprint of the Judson Chruch Gallery magazine Manipulations; issue 7 was a game-filled “British Box” edited by Mario Amaya; Dan Graham edited issue 8, titled “Art / Information / Science”; issue 9 was a psychedelic “Dream Weapon” issue edited by musicians Angus and Hetty MacLise; and issue 10 (which did not have editorial credits) was an incense-scented “Far East” issue.”

The San Francisco Earthquake, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Fall 1967). {M&M C175} “Word Authority More Habit Forming Than Heroin.” San Franscisco, 1967-1969 (1-5). Jan Herman.

1968

The San Francisco Earthquake, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Winter 1968). {M&M C217 & C218} “Salt Chunk Mary.” “Last Awning Flaps on the Pier.”

The San Francisco Earthquake, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Summer/Fall 1968). {M&M C209} “The Coldspring News . . . (William Burroughs, Editor) . . . On the Back Porch of His Farm.”

1969

The San Francisco Earthquake, [Vol. 1], No. 5 (1969). Includes reprint of The Moving Times, [No. 1]

1972

OU, No. 40–41 (March 1972). {M&M C325} “Valentine [sic] Day Reading.” “Item is present as approximately 9¾ minutes of Side A of a 10-inch . . . phono-disc” Paris 1958-1974 (1-44), Henri Chopin.

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: “Henri Chopin published concrete and visual poetry along with sound poetry in Revue Ou. He later designated the first nineteen issues of the magazine as Cinquième Saison to distinguish it from the second phase of the publication, which he called Nouveau Saison. During this later period, from 1964 to 1974, the magazine often used a pochette (pocket) format, containing LP records, unbound pages, posters, and art objects. Contributors included Chopin, Bernard Heidsieck, Brion Gysin, Raoul Hausmann, Paul de Vree, William S. Burroughs, François Dufrêne, Bob Cobbing, Paul Armand Gette and Hugh Daniels.”

Unmuzzled Ox, Vol. 1, No. 2 (February 1972). {M&M C322} [Statement on Claude Pélieu.] å”. . . intended as an introduction to one of Claude Pélieu’s books . . .” New York, 1971- (1- ), Michael Andre.

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: “In 1976, Michael Andre described his magazine as follows: ‘There’s nothing mysterious in Unmuzzled Ox. The poets, painters and editors all seek common places where their statements might exist in truth. The magazine has the aspect of community.’ A Canadian expatriate, Andre was working on his doctorate in English at Columbia University and working for a little magazine called The Little Magazine when he started Unmuzzled Ox in 1971. In the first issue, he wrote, ‘Unmuzzled Ox is not a neighborhood magazine; not a New York magazine; and certainly not a Kingston, Ontario, magazine. We will print the best writers we can. Some of the writers we print, if we met them, we would dislike; some, we suspect, may dislike us; and some clearly dislike one another. None of which matters.’ The magazine’s title alludes to a verse in Deuteronomy, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadth out thy corn on the floor.” It also had a countercultural ring, for the The Unmuzzled Ox was also the name of a radical coffeehouse in Ithaca, New York, in the 1970s.

While it started as a poetry magazine, visual art was part of Unmuzzled Ox form the beginning. Robert Crumb did the first cover; Laurie Anderson, who was the roommate of Andre’s girlfriend at the time, contributed to issue 3. While writing for Art News, Andre met other artists, including Jack Wesley. Especially notable was the magazine’s publication of conceptual artists. Issue 13 (1976), Lucy Lippard and Sol LeWitt collaborated on a series of “page drawings” alongside contributions by John Baldessari, Robert Mapplethorpe, Romare Bearden, Ray Johnson, William T. Wiley, and General Idea. Issue 14 included work by Claes Oldenburg, Andy Warhol, and Hannah Wilke. Andre’s poem “John Cage Shoes,” about Ray Johnson’s footwear, inspired responses from both Cage and Johnson in issue 15. (Later Johnson made a sculpture of two shoes, named John and Cage.). Unmuzzled Ox published poetry by Kathy Acker, Carolee Schneemann, Roger Conover, John Unterecker Higgins, and Lou Reed. In 1979 “The Poet’s Encyclopedia” issue was published, in which 225 poets and artists created an alphabetical compendium of offbeat and humorous entries. The format changed over time from a digest-sized paperback to a newsprint tabloid and circulation ranged from 1,000 for the first few issues to 25,000 for the newspaper verison.”

File Megazine: The Success Issue, Vol. 1 No. 4 (December 1972). Toronto, 1972-1989 (vol. 1, no. 1 – no. 28, General Idea (AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal). See chapter 6 of Allen’s Artists’ Magazines.

“FILE magazine — or megazine, as it was frequently called — was published by the Canadian collective General Idea. It served as a vehicle for the group’s eclectic, evolving interests and activities, from the Canadian mail art scene to elaborate preparations for a campy “fake” beauty contest known as the 1984 Miss General Idea Pageant, to new wave and punk music. Appropriating Life magazine’s red and white logo – an act of cultural piracy for which Time Inc. later threatened to sue – the magazine denaturalized dominant cultural categories of gender, class, beauty, and artistic production – and questioned the role of the media in upholding such categories.”

Apeiros #2 (Paris: 1972). Burroughs contributes “Electronic Revolution” with Brion Gysin, text in English. An excerpt from the book of the same name. Paris and Vaduz, Lichtenstein: Centre d’Art et de Communication, 1971-1977 (1-9, 3 was never published). Roberto Altmann.

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: “Billed as a périodique utopique revue de la lettre et du signe,” Apeiros published original works of art and writings associated with the lettrist movement, Fluxus, and conceptual art. Published in an edition of 1,000 to 3,000 copies, the magazine featured contributors such as Roberto Altmann, Jacques Villeglé, Annette Messager, William Burroughs, Dick Higgins and Jean-François Bory. Each issue included twelve sheets of blank paper, with which the editor invited readers to experience the principle of ‘infinitesimal’ reading.”

1973

OU, No. 42–44 (10 October 1973). “Reading.” Item is present as approximately 8½ minutes of Side A of 10″ LP.

1975

File Magazine, Vol. 3 no. 1 (Autumn 1975). Burroughs contributes “It Looks Like Measles, Doctor” bound in wraps

1976

Andy Warhol’s Interview, Vol. 6, No. 5 (May 1976), “William Burroughs.” [Interviewed by Paul Getty III.]

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: “Like Rolling Stone but on movies” is how Andy Warhol described his new magazine Interview: A Monthly Film Journal in the first issue. In 1969, when Interview began as a quarter-fold tabloid, Rolling Stone was itself a countercultural alternative to mainstream music journalism. Warhol’s studio assistant David Dalton was a founding editor of Rolling Stone, and the two had worked closely together on issue 3 of Aspen (1966), designed in the form of a box of Fab laundry detergent. Another clear influence on Interview was the underground press. John Wilcock, founder of the seminal underground paper the East Village Other, was listed on the first masthead, as were film director Paul Morrisey and the poet Gerard Malanga. However, though Inteview‘s pedigree included such alternative and underground precedents, like much of Warhol’s practice it also had one firmly planted in the culture industry. Indeed, the first issue was billed, not altogether ironically, as a “collectors’ item.” While most artists’ magazines were staunchly noncommercial, Warhol shrewdly borrowed promotional and marketing techniques, giving complimentary copies to celebrities and potential advertisers. Asked about the magazine’s funding, he blithely answered, “All income is derived from advertising and circulation.”

From the beginning, the magazine sought to shake up the rigid question-and-answer format of the interview, in ways that anticipated the spontaneous character of the artist interviews in Avalanche, founded the following year. A conversation with Agnes Varda in the first issue was prefaced: “The interviewer, Soren Agenoux, does not like the form of the interview and the implication of the form that the person has information to be given to the interviewer which the interviewer does not have and can not get except by asking.” Agenoux then began the interview by admitting to Varda, “I don’t know what kind of questions to ask you.” Other interviews had the unscripted character of Warhol’s own movies. Halfway through Amy Sullivan’s interview with Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin in the first issue, Warhol himself wanders in with a Polaroid camera and asks them to take their clothes off. While Interview started off juxtaposing the art world with the worlds of celebrity, entertainment and fashion, its history attests to the increasingly blurred lines between these worlds. Since shortly after Warhol’s death in 1987, Interview has been published by Brant Publications, Inc.; it was edited by former Artforum editor Ingrid Sischy from 1990 to 2008.”

Vile Magazine, vol. 1 no. 2 (Summer 1976). Burroughs contributes a reproduction of an untitled postcard, bound in wraps. Actually the fourth issue produced, though numbered as above. 

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: “VILE was founded by artist Anna Banana in response to “File Magazine’s growing distain for mail-art.” While acknowledging the “uneven aesthetic” of the mail art network, she believed “that the process of communication and exchange is important regardless of the aesthetics and skills of the sender.” VILE appropriated FILE‘s already appropriated red-and-white Life magazine logo. According to Banana, “I visualized a magazine that would look like LIFE but on close examination would reveal its true nature, subtle put-downs of the mass culture with nasty, dada, ‘up-yours’ type messages.” The first cover featured a suitably depraved images of the industrial musician Monte Cazazza tearing his heart out – a reference to the provocations of Dada, which later strongly resonated with punk. “VILE‘s do-it-yourself format anticipated later punk zines.) VILE compiled examples of mail art and address lists of artists, and included editorial copy and détourned clippings that parodied early issues of Life magazine. The first two issues had editions of 200 copies, distributed through the mail art network; later the circulation grew to 1,000, and Bill Gaglione edited several issues. Contributors included Felipe Ehrenberg, Judith Hoffberg, Genesis P-Orridge,/Throbbing Gristle, Image Bank, David Mayer, Alison Knowles, Ray Johnson, Gary Lee Nova, Yoko Ono, Ken Friedman, Klaus Goh, Raul Marroquin, Clemente Padin, and Martha Wilson. Issue 6, subtitled “Fe-Mail Art,” was a collection of mail art works by over 100 women. Issue 7 was an assembling of rubber stamp art. No. 8 was a retrospective, “About VILE.”

1977

Andy Warhol’s Interview, Vol. 7, No. 2 (February 1977). “Christopher Isherwood Meets William Burroughs for the First Time.” [Burroughs and Isherwood interviewed by Victor Bockris.]

1978

Semiotext(e), Vol. 3, No. 2 (1978). “The Limits of Control.”

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: Semiotext(e) was founded by French literary critic Sylvère Lotringer, along with several of his graduate students at Columbia University, who chipped in fifty dollars apiece to get the journal started. Semiotext(e) introduced writers such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, and Jacques Derrida to an American audience, and soon began to reach outside of the academic world, publishing interviews with downtown artists, such as Jack Smith, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Robert Wilson, and John Cage. In 1983, Semiotext(e) began publishing the Foreign Agents series, compact black books of theory, presented in an irreverently unacademic format, by Deleuze and Guattari, Paul Virilio, and Jean Baudrillard (whose Simulations appeared in 1983). Later it published fiction in its Native Agents series, and, most recently, has published an intervention series and the magazine Animal Shelter.

1979

Unmuzzled Ox, No. 20 (1979). “Junk” [Part 1]. [Part 2] by William J. Smith; [Part 3] by Art Linkletter. “The Poet’s Encyclopedia is available in hardbound, paperbound, and magazine editions … [and] as an issue of Unmuzzled Ox, was made possible by grants …”

Wet Magazine (November 1979). Burroughs contributes quotes on language as a virus originally appearing in Harper’s Magazine as “Playback from Eden to Watergate” printed on fragile newsprint, bound in wraps. Venice and Santa Monica, California, 1976-1981 (1-34). Leonard Koren.

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: “Wet: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing covered an offbeat mix of art, music, and fashion (everything from necrophiliac performance art to the work of Ed Ruscha) in an innovative and influential visual format that helped to define the Los Angeles New Wave aesthetic. In the first issue, editor Leonard Koren wrote: ‘Wet is a magazine devoted to upgrading the quality of your bathing experience. Hopefully, in the great American tradition of Coca-Cola, doggie diapers and Pet Rocks, Wet will become one of the things you never imagined you needed until you find you can’t live without it.’ The concept for the magazine evolved out of Koren’s ‘bath art’ phase, in which he produced works such as the silkscreen print 23 Beautiful Women and the book 17 Beautiful Men Taking a Shower. Wet broadened the definition of bathing to include other water-related phenomena such as hot tubs, rolfing, drinking water (‘bathing from the inside’), and waterbeds. Gradually the magazine grew to encompass ‘gourmet bathing‘ in a metaphorical sense: an eclectic lifestyle grounded in the boundless appreciation of absurdity. Starting as a four-page black-and-white zine, it went through numerous format changes, adding color covers and developing a distinctive graphic style that exploded the modernist grid with asymmetrical, clashing layouts. Koren described the magazine as ‘an eclectic collage; virtually any visual or written piece can be given a WET slant. The pictorial and graphical is more important than the textual. (Legibility and readability are of minor concern.)’ Wet‘s influential look was said to inform, among other things, the changing style of Artforum, which earned the epithet ‘Wetforum’ in the 1980s. Notable Wet contributors included Matt Groening, Matthew Ralston, and April Grelman. Published bimonthly and selling 15,000 to 25,000 per issue, the magazine became a sustainable if not exactly profitable enterprise. Growing restless with the increasingly routine nature of running the publication, Koren thought about trying to sell it, but in the end decided, “No thanks. I felt better about dumping the magazine altogether and letting its memory live on undefiled.”

1980

Wet, Vol. 4, No. 5 (March/April 1980). “New Lines.” “TOC: ?Selected Lines.”

1981

Semiotext(e), Vol. 4, No. 1, Whole No. 10 (1981). “The Popling.”

File Magazine, vol. 5 no. 1 (March 1981). Burroughs contributes “Cities of the Red Night” bound in wraps. 

Luna-Park #7 (Bruxelles 1981). Burroughs contributes “Scrapbook: Mal vu Mal Dit (extrait)”, French text, bound in wraps. Brussels, 1974-1985 (1-8/9), Marc Dachy.

From Allen’s Artists’ Magazines: “Luna-Park published experimental art and literature. Among its contributors were Alain Arias-mission, Christian Dotremont, Roberto Altmann, and Henri Lefebvre.”

1982

Radar, [No.] 1 (1982). Entire issue — featuring essays, interviews, and photographs — is devoted to Burroughs. In German. This 1st issue accompanied by a photograph of Burroughs by Robert Mapplethorpe. Basel and New York, 1982-1988 (1-5/6), Carl Lázló.

From Artists’ Magazines: “Radar was published by Basel-based art collector Carl Lázló, who previously published Panderma. Contributors included Robert Mapplethorpe, Gerard Malanga, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Les Levine, and Andy Warhol.

Semiotext(e), Vol. 4, No. 2, Whole No. 11 (1982). “Exterminating.” [Burroughs interviewed by Sylvère Lotringer.]

1983

Radar No. 2 (1983). With an original photograph “William S. Burroughs” by Victor Bockris, with two color photographs attached in the back

1984

Unmuzzled Ox No. 23 (1984). Burroughs contributes “My Punk Face is Death” to this issue entitled The Cantos (121-150) Ezra Pound, printed on fragile newsprint and spiral bound. 

1987

Semiotext(e), No. 13 (1987). “Sects and Death.”

1989

Semiotext(e), Vol. 5, No. 2, Whole No. 14 (1989). “The CIA Reporter.” “The New Boy.”

Unmuzzled Ox, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Issue No. 26) (1989, © 1988). “My Punk Face Is Death.” “A preview of The Gay Gun [published as The Place of Dead Roads], his new novel.”

1991

Andy Warhol’s Interview, Vol. 21, No. 4 (April 1991). “Wm. Burroughs.” [Burroughs interviewed by Victor Bockris.]

1992

Unmuzzled Ox Vol .1 no. 2 (2/92). Burroughs contributes, unrelated to the earlier publication with this title, bound in wraps.

Burroughs as Art Critic

1960

Takis. Iris Clert Présente L’Impossible par Takis. Paris: Iris Clert Gallery, 1960. {M&M F1} Catalogue accompanying exhibition. Includes “Song cut along topographical magnetic lines . . . ” by Burroughs.

1961

Harloff, Guy. Guy Harloff. Paris: Galerie “La Cour d’Ingres,” 1961. Folded card. Includes untitled texts about Harloff by William Burroughs and Nanos Valaoritis.

Norse, Harold. Harold Norse Exhibition. Paris: Cave de la Librairie Anglais, 1961. Folded card. {M&M F4} Catalogue accompanying exhibition. Includes “Cosmographies Harold Norse” by Burroughs.

1962

Takis. Takis. Milan: Galleria Schwarz, 1962. Softbound. {M&M F5} Catalogue accompanying exhibition. Includes “Takis is working with and expressing . . . ” by Burroughs

1963

Takis. Takis: Telesculptures, Telephota, Telemagnets. New York: Alexander Iolas Gallery, 1963. Portfolio containing two prints. Catalogue accompanying exhibition held October 15–November 2, 1963. Includes “Takis is working with and expressing . . . ” by Burroughs.

Brusse, Mark. Reliefs & Machines. Paris: Galerie Ursula Girardon, 1963. Broadside, folded in eighths. Catalogue accompanying exhibition held 23 October–30 November 1963. Burroughs text accompanies Michel Haberland’s b&w photographs of Brusse’s art.

1966

Takis. Magnetic Sculpture and the White Signals. London: Indica Gallery, 1966. Softbound. {M&M F15} Catalogue accompanying exhibition held 25 November–December 1966, with texts by Takis, Burroughs, Marcel Duchamp, and Allen Ginsberg.

Ole, No. 5 [1966]. {M&M C147} “From William S. Burroughs, Writing of Norse’s Exhibition in Paris of Cosmographs . . .” “Harold Norse Special Issue” “Reprinted from the exhibition leaflet . .”

1967

Takis. Magnetic Sculpture. New York: Howard Wise Gallery, 1967. Softbound. {M&M F20} Catalogue accompanying exhibition held 7–29 April 1967. Includes “Paris 1960” by Burroughs.

1968

Takis: Evidence of the Unseen by Wayne Anderson, (Cambridge: M.I.T., 1968). Exhibition catalog with commentaries by Marcel Duchamp, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, and William Burroughs, Published on occasion of the Takis Exhibition at the Heyden Gallery at MIT, Cambridge MA, Nov. 15 – Dec 8, 1968. Bound in wraps. 

1969

Architectural Design, Vol. 39, No. 6 (June 1969). {M&M C229} “St. Peter’s Building (1888), 24 Peter Street, London, W1.” Included in Treasure Island, “an article in which one hundred and fifty people, some famous, some virtually unknown, were asked to name one place in England, Scotland, or Wales that has for them a special, extraordinary quality. About a hundred people complied.”

1973

Brion Gysin. Permutations. Paris: Galerie Weiller, 1973. One sheet, folded to make 12 panels (6 on each side). {M&M F30}  Catalogue of an exhibition at Galerie Weiller, 20 March–20 April 1973. Includes “William Burroughs on the Painting of Brion Gysin,” an interview between Gysin and Burroughs, in French and English.

1975

Chambas, Jean-Paul. Exposition de Dessins à Propos de W. S. Burroughs. Text by Peter Handke translated into French by Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt. Paris: Librairie-Galerie du Rhinocéros, 1975. Softbound. Catalogue accompanying exhibition held at the Galerie du Rhinocéros in Paris, 19 November–31 December 1975. Contains the works “Hero/APO 33,” “Naked Lunch,” “Portrait,” “Cut-up Rimbaud/Burroughs (détail),” “Cut-up The Wild Boys,” “Lands End,” and “Cut-up Chambas/Burroughs.”

1981

Gysin, Brion. Brion Gysin: The October Gallery, March 12–April 4, 1981. London: The October Gallery, 1981. Softbound. Catalogue accompanying an exhibition at The October Gallery. Includes “Ports of Entry,” an interview with Gysin by Burroughs.

1984

New York Inside and Out. Toronto: Skyline Press 1984. Text by Burroughs and photos by Robert Walker, hardbound in dust jacket. 

1991

Weber, Bruce. An Exhibition by Bruce Weber at Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, California, May, Nineteen Ninety-One and at Parco Exposure Gallery, Tokyo, May, Ninety-One. Text by Burroughs. 1st ed. Tokyo: Treville, 1991; distributed by Bulfinch Press. Softbound. Burroughs text accompanies Weber photographs.

1992

Painting and Guns. New York: Hanuman Books 1992. First printing in wraps with pictorial dust jacket. A miniature-size book and an unusually cute production for a Burroughs publication. Popular enough for a second print run.

1993

Brown, James. The Moroccan. First edition. St. Louis: Lococo Mulder, 1993. Softbound. Reproductions of Brown’s art and photographs of Tangier by Jellel Gasteli, accompanied by texts by Paul Bowles, Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg.

1994

Condo, George. Recent Paintings: April 30–June 11 1994, The Pace Gallery, 142 Greene Street, New York City. New York: Pace Wildenstein, 1994. Includes “You can’t tell anyone anything . . .” by Burroughs.

In Art Magazines

1989

ARTnews, (October 1989). Burroughs contributes a short definition of pornography, bound in wraps. 

1997

Aperture Magazine No. 146 (Winter 1997). Reproduces an image from Burroughs’ Dream Book and prints “William Burroughs at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art — Pariah or Pope?” bound in wraps. 

2001

Modernism 20th Century Art & Design Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Fall 2001). Prints “Art of the Beats” and reproduces Burroughs art, bound in wraps. 

Artists Books

1965

APO-33 aka Health Bulletin: APO-33 A Metabolic Regulator, Fuck You Press, 1965, and APO-33 Bulletin: A Metabolic Regulator, Beach Books, 1968.

Time. New York: “C” Press 1965, Maynard & Miles A11a. A signed hardcover issue lettered A-J each accompanied by a manuscript page from Burroughs and a drawing by Brion Gysin. Illustrated with four calligrams by Gysin. The top half of the cover appears to be an issue of Time magazine and features portraits of Nehru and Mao, reproduced as a part of a collage by WSB. Indeed, the November 30, 1962 issue of Time magazine, with the title “India’s Lost Illusions,” was apparently chosen by Burroughs for parody because that issue includes a savage review of Naked Lunch, as well as Burroughs’ other Olympia Press works, in which Burroughs and other Beat writers are put down as frauds. 

1969

The Dead Star. San Francisco: Nova Broadcast Press 1969.  Printed stapled wrappers which fold-out accordion fashion, one of 2,000 copies, first separate printing of this piece which originally appeared in a different form in Jeff Nuttall’s My Own Mag. Maynard & Miles A14. 

1973

Charles Gatewood. The Dream Machine. [New York: Self-Published], 1973. Limited to 10 copies. “Small artist book containing 7 original prints of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin with a Dream Machine, portrait shots of Burroughs and Gysin, and two shots of Burroughs with the Scientology e-meter. The volume also contains text about Burroughs and Gysin’s experiments with flicker and the Dream Machine.”

1974

Burroughs, William S., Henri Chopin, and Cozette de Charmoy. Ruby Editions Portfolio, No. 1. London: Wallrich Books, 1974. 3 sheets in printed card folder. Portfolio containing three prints, one each by Burroughs, Chopin, and de Charmoy. “This edition consists of one hundred numbered copies, and thirty [numbered] copies hors commerce; each print signed by the [respective] artist.”

1975

Gatewood, Charles. Sidetripping. New York: Derbibooks 1975.  Text by WSB, photos by Charles Gatewood, bound in pictorial wraps. The texts are from previously published works.

1976

Burroughs, William S., Cozette de Charmoy, and François Lagarde. Poste Vaticana. Geneva: Les Editions Ottezec; Paris: Les Editions Terra Incognita, 1976. 17 sheets in glossy card folder. Limited to 25 copies numbered I–XXV, signed by de Charmoy and Lagarde

1981

Rauschenberg, Robert. American Pewter. Los Angeles: Gemini G.E.L., 1981. Six lithographs (some with embossing) by Rauschenberg with texts by Burroughs. Lithographs measure 31.5 x 23.5 inches, are signed by Rauschenberg, and are “issued in small editions ranging from 36 to 46 copies.” 

1986

The Cat Inside. New York: Grenfell Press 1986. Issued in an edition of 18 copies bound in full limp vellum with a drawing by Brion Gysin stamped in gold on the front cover. Text by Burroughs with drawings by Gysin and printed in two colors using the duotone process on a hand letterpress. All copies signed by Burroughs and Gysin and housed in a custom made box. A true fine press production.

1988

Apocalypse. New York: G. Mulder 1988. Burroughs contributes texts to Keith Haring’s artwork. An edition of 250 copies comprising the “luxe issue” of 250 copies, hardbound with dust jacket. 

Apocalypse Print. New York: G. Mulder 1988. Broadside printed to publicize the collaborative book, text by Burroughs, but no Haring artwork. Silkscreen on paper 38? x 38?, issued in an edition of 90 copies, an unknown number were signed by Burroughs.

1990

The Valley. New York: George Mulder Fine Arts 1990. Portfolio of etchings by Keith Haring with text by Burroughs, 31 sheets total including 16 signed etchings by Keith Haring, last sheet of text with image by Haring is signed by Burroughs, measures 14 x 12 1/2 inches on Twinrocker handmade paper, hardbound in a red cloth portfolio, published in an edition of 80 numbered copies

1991

Ghost of Chance. New York: Whitney Museum of Art 1991. First issue of this work in conjunction with the Whitney museum, illustrated with three black and white etchings, one black and white drawing and 10 colored lithographs by George Condo tipped in. An edition of 160 copies signed by Burroughs and Condo. An adventure story set in the jungle of Madagascar and filled with Burroughs’ usual concerns: drugs, paranoia, and lemurs; this short novel tells an important story about environmental devastation in a way that only Burroughs could tell it. Hand bound by Claudia Cohen in a full silk-surfaced black cloth with golden tan fibers interwoven. Full color pictorial end papers, in a matching cloth covered slipcase, one of the most elaborate Burroughs publications ever. 

X-Ray Man. New York: Water Row/Lococo Mulder 1991. Untitled three-color broadside (red, blue & purple on white background). Generally referred to as “X-Ray Man,” it is a figure that repeats in a number of Burroughs art pieces. 9.5 x 13 inches silkscreen print with small embossed lizard figure in lower right corner, edition limited to 178 numbered copies. 

Seven Deadly Sins. New York: Lococo/Mulder 1991. A signed and numbered limited edition of 150 copies bound in full leather and signed by Burroughs. Cover features an original piece of wood “shotgun art” by Burroughs. Features reproductions of Burroughs’ paintings illustrating the “seven deadly sins,” with text by him. All copies of the book have the printed page with “Luxe Edition of 150 copies” — this often creates confusion among collectors. But only the limited edition copies were bound in leather, each signed and numbered by hand. Most of the deluxe copies were never distributed, probably because of the high publisher’s price of $495. 

Seven Deadly Sins Woodcuts. New York: Lococo Mulder 1991.  A set of serigraphed woodcuts. The edition includes 90 boxed sets, 10 artist proofs, 4 hors commerce, 3 printer’s proofs, and 1 right to print. Issued in serigraphed red wooden box includes cover sheet, 7 sheets with images and 7 sheets with text. Images made from paintings on Mylar and woodblocks shot by Burroughs with a 12-gauge shotgun. Each sheet is numbered and signed, and quite large at 45 x 31? in a 48 x 34? box. 

1992

Paper Cloud Thick Pages. Kyoto: Kyoto Shoin Int’l 1992. Issued in pictorial boards without dust jacket, color illustrations of paintings and collage art by Burroughs with little text.

1993

Burroughs, William S., and David Bradshaw. Propagation Hazard. [Tampa, Fla.]: Graphicstudio, University of South Florida, 1993. “… a folio of eight lithographs, etchings, and pages of text … signed and numbered … presented in a clamshell box which is housed in an aluminum [welded] tread plate slipcase.” The edition consists of 60 Arabic Numbered, 20 Roman Numbered, 18 Artist’s Proofs, 3 Archive Proofs, and 7 Studio Proofs [plus 4 Presentation Proofs], for a total of 108 [i.e., 112] folios.

Burroughs Exhibition Catalogs

1964

Peinture, Poésie, Musique: David Budd Recontre William Burroughs et Earl Brown Chez Rodolphe Stadler. Paris: Galerie Stadler, 1964. One sheet, folded to make 12 panels (6 on each side). {M&M F11} “A two-column piece by Burroughs printed alternately in red and orange ink occupies half of the catalogue, both in English and in a French translation.”

1988

William Burroughs: Painting. Amsterdam: Suzanne Biederberg Gallery; London: October Gallery, [1988]. Catalogue accompanying an exhibition at Suzanne Biederberg/October Galleries, with essay “On Burroughs’ Art” by James Grauerholz.

William S. Burroughs. New York: Tony Shafrazi Gallery, 1988. Single sheet of cardstock, folded four times. Catalogue accompanying Burroughs’ first one-man show, 19 December–24 January 1988, organized by Diego Cortez. With a text by Burroughs, “Entrance to the Museum of Lost Species,” edited by James Grauerholz.

William S. Burroughs. Santa Fe, N.M.: Gallery Casa Sin Nombre, 1988. Softbound (no hardbound issued). Exhibition catalogue for Burroughs’ second one-man show . . . Prints James Grauerholz’s essay “On Burroughs’ Art’.”

William S. Burroughs. London: The October Gallery, 1988. Single sheet, folded three times. Catalogue accompanying Burroughs’ third one-man show [“1 June–2nd July 1988”] . . . including [excerpts from] James Grauerholz’s essay “On Burroughs’ Art’.”

Klein Gallery. William S. Burroughs, October 21–November 26, 1988. Chicago: Klein Gallery, 1988. Postcard [8½ x 5½ in.]. Postcard for exhibition of works by Burroughs, 21 October–26 November 1988. Reproduces Fluck You! Fluck You! by Burroughs.

1989

William S. Burroughs. Rome: Cleto Polcina Artemoderna, 1989. Softbound. Exhibition catalogue for Burroughs’ fifth one-man show . . . Includes Burroughs’ essay “Nagual Art’ [accompanied by an Italian translation].” Limited to 1,500 copies.

Galerie Carzaniga + Ueker. Clignett/Burroughs. Basel: Carzaniga + Ueker, 1989. Single sheet, folded to make 8 panels (4 on each side). Brochure for exhibition of works by Burroughs and Robine Clignett, 27 April-20 May 1989 [see above]. Includes reproduction of Fuck Door by Burroughs.

Paintings. Basel: Galerie Carzaniga + Ueker, 1989. Softbound. Catalogue of an exhibition at Galerie Carzaniga + Ueker, 27 April–20 May 1989. Includes James Grauerholz’s “On Burroughs’ Art,” along with German translation by Udo Breger.

1990

Minihan, John. Bacon Beckett Burroughs. London: The October Gallery, 1990. Exhibition catalogue for a showing of photographs by Minihan of the three artists

William S. Burroughs: Exposition, 23 Mars/21 Avril 1990. Paris: Galerie K, 1990. Softbound. Introductory essay by Burroughs, “Nagual Art” (text in French) . . . Burroughs’ first exhibition in France.”

Pinturas. Madrid: Galeria Sephira, 1990. Oblong sheet, folded in four.

Shotgun Paintings, Works on Wood & Paper: William S. Burroughs Exhibition. Edited by Makito Hayashi and Takashi Momma. Tokyo: Sezon Museum of Art, 1990. Softbound. Catalogue accompanying exhibitions at the Seed Hall in Tokyo, 14 June–3 July 1990, and Akarenga Hall in Sapporo, 12–30 July 1990. Organized by Sezon Museum of Art and the Hokkaido Shimbun Press. Supervised by Mitsuhiro Takemura. Includes “William S. Burroughs” by James Grauerholz, in Japanese and English.

1991

Neue Bilder. Basel: Galerie Carzaniga + Ueker, 1991. Softbound.

1996

Concrete and Buckshot. Los Angeles: Smart Art Press 1996. Exhibition catalog of Burroughs’ art with text by Burroughs, bound in illustrated wraps. 

2005

Dead Aim: The Unseen Art of William S. Burroughs. London: Riflemaker, 2005. Softbound. “A Riflemaker Exhibition … Paintings, Targets, Soundworks, Scrapbooks, Cut-Ups, Fold-Ins, Film & Documentary Evidence: September–December, 2005.”

2008

Riflemaker Gallery. Life-File: The Private File-Folders of William S. Burroughs. London: Riflemaker, [2008]. 

Postcard [7¼ x4½ in.]. Postcard for exhibition of works by Burroughs, 16 December 2008–10 January 2009.