brion gysin

First exhibition 1935 with Picasso Arp, Bellmer, Brauner, de Chirico, Dali, Duchamp, Max Ernst, Magritte, Miro, Man Ray, Tanguy at Galerie Quatre Chemins, Paris; drawings taken down and expelled from Surrealist Group by Paul Eluard at the orders of André Breton.

Arrived New York 1940, cautious reunion with Surrealists: Matta, Paalen, Seligmann, etc. Assistant to Irene Sharaff on seven Broadway musicals: painted but did not show; airplane trips between Miami and Havana inspired series of aerial landscapes produced by "decalcomania'': worked as welder in shipyards, made welded sculptures. abandoned them as junk to join the US and Canadian armies, 1943.

Eighteen months course in Japanese language studies and calligraphy. Wrote the biography of Josiah Henson (Uncle Tom): To master a Long Goodnight, followed by The History ol Slavery in Canada (New York, 1946).

Received one of the first Fulbright Fellowships for France. Research on the history of slavery at the University of Bordeaux and in the Archivos de India, Seville, Spain, 1949-50.

Trip to Tangier, Morocco with Paul Bowles, 1950, led to establishing permanent residence there. Winter and spring travelling in Sahara, keeping notebooks for observations and for painting 1951-52.

Minutes to Go (Paris) with Burroughs, Corso, Sinclair Beiles; The Exterminator (San Francisco) with Burroughs; group shows in Paris; BBC London program on Minutes to Go and recorded Permutated Poems; Lecture-Happening. Heretics Club, Cambridge with simultaneous painting of large picture; and ICA, London with Burroughs, Ian Sommerville on tapes and projections, texts and painting produced; animated readings with recordings and projections, Paris 1960.

Collaborated with Burroughs on The Ticket that exploded, which trails away at the end into permutated calligraphy, "Silence to say good bye"; group show Paris. Salon "Réalités Nouvelles," BBC broadcast "The Permutated Poems of Brion Gysin": IAM THAT I AM. Pistol Poems, etc. 1961.

Group show "L'Objet" 1962 in Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Louvre, Paris Dreamachine shown for first time group shows Venice, Paris; One Man Show, Rome worked in Rome studio arranged by Matta; inventing Roller Grid influenced by Dreamachine visions; film Towers Open Fire, directed by Antony Balch, with Gysin, Burroughs, Sommerville, Michael Portman, etc; group shows Paris, London; formation of Domaine Poétique group by J.C. Lambert and J. L. Pllilippe with Robert Filliou; first show in Paris with permutated poems and projections, assisted by Ian Sommerville; further performances in Paris and in Sweden, Denmark and Japan with poets from over twenty countries.

Guerilla Conditions, a 6'' x 6' painting on a text by Burroughs painted on the spot to permutated tapes, filmed by Antony Balch, 1963. Dreamachines for Helena Rubinstein with Ian Sommerville; One Man Show, Tangier introduced by Burroughs; group show Haut de Cagnes, France, and Palazzo Guggenheim, Venice; Peggy Guggenheim later presents pictures to Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Museum of Modern Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Permutations, silkscreen book (Paul Gette, Paris) 1964. Group show with Henri chopin, Paris; records of Permutated Poems published by Chopin in OU; permutated Poems at the Metro, NYC, and with Burroughs at the American Theatre for Poets Inc, NY; "Between Poetry and Painting," ICA, London; Subway Sounds'' witlh John Giorno, 4rth Biennale de Paris; New York with Burroughs preparing text and illustrations for The Third Mind; left for Tangier to start work on the Process, 1965

Group shows, Paris, Prague, Nice with Bernard Heidsieck, 1966

Hepta catalogue poem, Paris 1967

Group show University of Rouen, France; film The Cut Ups, Antony Balch with Gysin, Burroughs, Sommerville, Portman, etc., 1968.

The Process (NY and London) 1969 Writing Naked Lunch scenario; traveled between Tangier, London, Cannes, Venice, NY, etc; "Concrete Poetry," University of Indiana; poems for "Gette's Crystals" with Burroughs; text for Brian Jones Presents The Piper of Pan at Joujouka (Rolling Stones Records); first draft of Beat Hotel

Permutated Poems WBAI, NY and Radio Pacifica, SF, 1970-3 Brion Gysin Let The Mice In (New York) with texts by Burroughs and Sommerville; cover, photos and illustrations for "Catalogue of the William S Burroughs Archive (London); illustration for Burroughs "Revolution Electronique (Paris); long interview in Rolling Stone with Burroughs by Robert Palmer; One Man and group shows, Paris, Rome; definitive return to Paris, 1973.

Oeuvre Croisée (The Third Mind) Paris; started work again on Beat Hotel, assisted by Terry Wilson; first chapter, titled Beat Museum - Bardo Hotel, appears in Soft Need Brion Gysin Special (Basel - Patris) along with transcript of first tapes made with Terry Wilson for Here to Go: Planet R 101; One Man shows, Paris: "Beaubourg the Last Museum," "The Last Museum in Kodacolor 11"- group shows NY, Brussels, Sweden, Norway, Liechtenstein 'Le Colloque de Tangier" with Burroughs, Geneva. "Paris-New York," "Burroughs-Gysin Read" Centre Pompidou, Paris; "Poesie Sonore" with Steve Lacy, Paris, Le Havre, Rennes, Brussels, etc; The Third Mind (New York); performances with Burroughs, Corso, Ginsberg, etc, Amsterdam; Nova Convention, NY with the same plus Philip Glass John Cage, Frank Zappa Patti Smith, etc; 1st and 2nd international Poetry Festivals, Rome, with same plus Yevtushenko; One Man show, DREAMACHlNE, Basel; group show "Ecritures" Centre Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris 1980.