Lehmann Maupin Hosts Artist Reading With Billy Childish Nov 4

In conjunction with the opening of I Am The Billy Childish, Lehmann Maupin Gallery is pleased to present an artist reading with Billy Childish on Friday, 4 November at 7:30 PM at 201 Chrystie Street. Channeling his energy into various creative outlets, Childish fascinates many through his visual art as well as through his literary and musical pursuits.

Following the opening of his inaugural exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, Childish will read from his latest novel, The Stonemason, and I Fuckt Frida Kahlo, a very special edition of Paraffin Van (Poems 2009-2011), described by the artist as "a new collection of poetry by someone who's been doing it for too long." This collection reflects a mixture of confessional and more anti-art poetry, or anti-poetry poetry, as the artist has termed it. A limited edition of 50 will be published for this exhibition.

Billy Childish was born in Chatham, Kent in 1959. After leaving secondary school at age 16 he worked at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham as an apprentice stonemason. Initially denied an interview to the local art school, he produced hundreds of drawings that gained him entry to St. Martin's School of Art. Childish's defiance to authority led to his eventual expulsion from art school in 1981. Childish then embarked on an artistic, odyssey exploring a broad range of worldly themes including war, history, social protest, as well his own experiences of alcoholism, and the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.Over thirty-five years of continual creative activity, Childish has gained a cult status world-wide writing and publishing over forty volumes of confessional poetry, recording over one hundred LPs, and painting several hundred works, all the while refusing to conform to the contemporary art world's standards and placed importance on the market.

I Fuckt Frida Kahlo

First Edition
Published by L-13 Press of Clerkenwell, November 2011
on the occasion of the exhibition i am the billy childish
at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York

Limited Edition of 60 of which 50 are signed and numbered and 10 are dedicated.

The Stonemason
original revelations - lived and imagined
by 'chyldish'

the assembled poem illustrating, skiving and sketches made during a winter sojourn in her majisys dockyard, c - in the year 1976

Published by L-13 Press of Clerkenwell, 2011

British Library edition of 13 with lending dates and library card sleeve, tipped in on end papers. Hand bound with original wraps laid in. Signed and stamped by the artist.
Purchase here

Toni Kurz Descending
2011
hand colored etching
18.75 inches x 11.75 inches
Edition of 20

Special Edition LP Set
The Musicians of the British Empire
The Chatham Singers

Released by White Columns, New York
and the L-13 Light Industrial Workshop
for Lehmann Maupin Gallery on the occasion of
the exhibition i am the billy childish, November 2011

For further information please contact Bethanie Brady at +1 212 254 0054, Bethanie@lehmannmaupin.com, or visit our website www.lehmannmaupin.com. For gallery news and exclusive artist updates become a Facebook Fan of Lehmann Maupin.