Targeting connoisseurs of The Naked Lunch, the Riflemakers gallery in London is showing the unseen, now highly prized, art of William S. Burroughs.

Fans of author William S. Burroughs, the 1950s godfather of the Beat movement, are being treated to a bonanza of his work this autumn: The Naked Lunch is being republished in a new edition by his biographer Barry Miles and his friend and manager James Grauerholz and the long awaited Evil River, a new volume of autobiographical writings, is being published by Viking Press in December. Yes, eight years after the feisty author's death in 1997 at the age of 83, his writings are still in vogue. But so is his art. In fact, although few know it, art and writing were pretty much inseparable in Burrough's mind. It was the writer's fascination with the cut-up, the technique of randomly collaging paragraphs of text together that played a part in the narrative construction of The Naked Lunch. He spent forty years making art and collaborated with Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Those hungry for a slice of Burrough's DNA, aren't waiting for the words, but heading straight to the three-part exhibition devoted to Burrough's art now for sale at The Riflemaker Gallery in London. There could be no better place to exhibit the Smith-and-Wesson touting wordsmith's oeuvres: this new contemporary art gallery was previously a Georgian gun shop. The first part, entitled Dead Aim, comprises forty 'shotgun targets', the infamous Shot Sheriff drawings never seen before. Burrough's would draw a figure with a marker pen and brush, then shoot into it. The holes and powdermarks creating shade and depth and the image would be embellished with ink or small pools of watercolour.

Opening on October 11, Pistol Poem, the second part of the show, focuses on rare editions, letters and manuscripts and their relationship to his collages, spray-can illustrations and other artwork. Rifle Range, the final part of the exhibition, running from November 1 to end December, explores the work of around 30 artists, including Paul Klee, Dubuffet, Keith Haring and Dexter Dalwood, who were influenced by Burroughs' art and shows how their ideas cross-pollinated over the second half of the 20th century.

Burroughs had solo exhibitions at the Tony Shafrazzi and Gagosian galleries in New York during his lifetime. On these occasions his artwork was as big a hit as his books. "They're all pre-sold," Burroughs once said, a touch bewildered. "It's the only way to go." Burroughs fans take note.




"I am trying like Klee to create something that will have a life of its own, that can put me in real danger, a danger which I willingly take on myself."