Bill Lewis
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Bill Lewis | |
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Born | William Lewis 1 August 1953 |
Nationality | British |
Known for | Painting, poetry, fiction |
Movement | Stuckism |
William Lewis (born 1 August 1953) is an English artist, story-teller, poet and mythographer.[1] He was a founder-member of The Medway Poets and of the Stuckists art group.[1]
Life and career
Early life
Bill Lewis was born in
1970s
He spent a year unloading trucks in Chiesmans department store in Maidstone, then in 1976 he had a
In 1979, his interest in
1980s
In 1980, he had a show of paintings at Peter Waite's Rochester Pottery Gallery, as did Thomson, Childish, Sanchia Lewis (no relation) and Sexton Ming, the last two also founder members of the Stuckist group.[3]
1978–82 he was the CSSD Porter at West Kent General Hospital,
During this time he performed at the Kent Literature Festival in Folkestone. His first major collection of poems Rage without Anger was published during this period.
He read and published work on the theme of Human Rights. His poem "Red Guitar" dedicated to the murdered Chilean songwriter
In 1989 the Nicaraguan poet and storyteller Carlos Rigby invited Lewis to Nicaragua, suggesting he would find the revolution receptive to his poetry. Lewis, with his wife Ann, embarked on a three-month stay in that country.[citation needed] Lewis carried out a series of poetry readings there. Much of his experiences from this journey were later explored in his book The Book of Misplaced but Imperishable Names.
1990s
During this period that Bill Lewis performed three times with '60s star Julie Felix.[citation needed]
In 1999 he was one of the founding members of the Stuckist art group along with Childish, Thomson and Ming. Lewis has been featured prominently in all the key Stuckist shows.[1] In 2004, he was one of the fourteen "founder and featured" artists in The Stuckists Punk Victorian held at the Walker Art Gallery for the Liverpool Biennial.[8]
In the 1990s Lewis experimented with singing some of his poems often using a frame drum made for him by an American Indian drum maker and also a Native American horn rattle. His sung poems have influences from shamanic, Latin American and middle Eastern tunes and rhythms.[citation needed]
Throughout the 1990s he carried out many poetry reading tours, six on the East Coast of the United States, he also performed (in English) in Paris, France. Many of Lewis' American readings were organized by Professor Robert Parker Sorlien of the University of Rhode Island. Other readings were funded and organized by The Curbstone Press of Connecticut. The last of these readings was at a festival in Willimantic, Connecticut, where Lewis appeared on stage with Claribel Alegría, Naomi Ayala and Luis J. Rodriguez.[citation needed]
During this period several of his short stories were translated and published in German newspapers and magazines. A few of his poems were also translated into Spanish.
2000s and beyond
After co-founding, with Dave Wise, The Urban Fox Press, Lewis went on to found The Medway Delta Press in 2005. The first project was a limited edition set of 3 CDs entitled Voices From The Medway Delta, featuring work by Billy Childish, Sexton Ming, Chris Broderick, Bill Lewis, and other names in the Medway scene. The Medway Delta Press has also published a DVD documentary by Carol Lynn on Stuckism.[5]
He was one of the thirteen "leading Stuckists"[9] in the Go West exhibition at Spectrum London gallery in October 2006.
As the 1990s ended and 2000 started Lewis taught courses in mythology for the Kent Children's University (a Kent County Council initiative). The students were aged between 10 and 11 years old.
At the same time he was teaching courses in Myth and Culture and also Creative Writing for Adult Education in Maidstone and on the Isle of Sheppey. It was during one of these sessions on the Isle of Sheppey that future Stuckist painter Joe Machine joined the course as a student. Lewis recognized Joe's talent and later introduced him to Billy Childish and Charles Thomson.
He has had a solo show at the Rochester International Photography Festival.[10]
In 2011 he had his first major solo exhibition at the Deaf Cat Café and Gallery in Rochester, Kent. This was a very successful show with Lewis selling 17 of the 27 pictures.
In the same year Lewis gave a series of lectures on Myth, Culture and the New Paradigm at the University of Creative Arts in Medway Pop-up Gallery. He also exhibited some of his latest paintings in their shows.
In 2012 he was presented with the Literature Award at the Culture and Design Awards for Medway. This was in recognition, not only of his writing, but also his work in the community mentoring younger artists and promoting art and culture in the Medway area.
In 2017 Lewis become a member of COLONY: A Community of Artists. This group of artists work in a variety of mediums and all have a reputation outside of the group. Their aim is not only to exhibit together but also to support and encourage each other. The group was officially launched in October 2018 at the Halpern Gallery, Chatham, Kent.[11]
In 2020 Bill had some of his poems translated into Italian by Silvia Pio and they were published in the online magazine 'Margutte' Read it here: [1]
Art
His position in art in many ways stands for the Stuckist ethic.[12] He has said "I do this because I can’t do anything else and I’ve spent 20 years doing it."[12] He says the importance of his work is not in the technique, but "what's underneath it"; he redraws or repaints an image as many as eighty times, until he is satisfied with it.[1] He names as influences Marc Chagall, Paula Rego, Ana Maria Pacheco, films and comic books.[1] He has been quoted as saying "People are never sure if we are being ironic or not. We are not. We are coming from the heart."[12]
He often uses symbols in his work,
"I had this move through Christianity and Judaism towards something else—I'm not quite sure what yet. The woman represents both my idea of holiness and the feminine part of myself, which is my link to the Great Mystery—that otherness that you sense behind things but you don't know what it is. I used to call it God, but now that seems a very lame word. In old paintings the dog would have represented fidelity, but it could also be an anagram of God or a trickster figure who illuminates the human shadow (the buried part of us). None of these things are separate: they only appear separate. My paintings are like a magic mirror in fairy stories. I hold it up to try to see my true likeness. Sometimes it takes me years to work out what the symbols mean. That's why I do them—to try and find out something.[1]"
Books
Lewis has published seven books of poetry and three of short stories; he has made five reading tours in the United States and one in Nicaragua.[10] and has read in Europe. His writing is included in The Green Man (Viking Press), World Fantasy Award winner,[10] as well as The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 1997 and 1998.[13][5]
In 2011 Lewis was published by Greenheart Press and his first book with them 'In The House of Ladders' is a book of poems which also contains six black and white prints by the author. Lewis' second book for Greenheart Press, "In the Long Ago and Eternal Now", was published in January 2017. This also contains black and white pictures by the author and it features several long sequences. Mare Nostrum is a nine part suite of poems that uses the Mediterranean as a metaphor for both the collective and personal unconscious. This sequence has elements of mythology as well as the poet's own personal memories. Another longer piece in the book is called "The Other" and celebrates Otherness in all of its forms e.g. ethnic, gender, duality.
In 2019 the first volume of Lewis' collected poems was published by Colony Press entitled "This Love Like A Rage Without Anger", Poems 1975–2005. This collection contains the first 30 years of his writing including his 'Medway Suite' and poems written in the Americas. [14]
Gallery
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The Laughter of Small White Dogs
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Friday
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Holy Spirited
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Light Bringers
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Guitar Woman Snake
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Sleeper of Prague
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Night Ride
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Summer Ghosts
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The Dream in the Orchard
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Kent
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Rusalka
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The Field
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He Watches Me From The Corner But What Is He Thinking
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Witched
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Kissing the Minotaur
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Nune, Vodka and the Cat
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Tricolor (North African Woman)
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Trickster
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The Gypsy and the Moon
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 1-902700-27-9. Pages 6–30, Charles Thomson's essay, "A Stuckist on Stuckism", can be found online at stuckism.com.
- ^ a b c d Milner, p. 8
- ^ ISBN 0-907165-27-3
- ^ a b Milner, p. 9
- ^ a b c Sherwin, Brian. "Art Space Talk: Bill Lewis", myartspace.com, 29 December 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2008. [dead link]
- ISBN 0-9532609-5-X
- BookRags, 17 September 2009.
- ^ "The Stuckists Punk Victorian", Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
- ^ "Go West", The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
- ^ a b c "Bill Lewis" Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
- ^ "COLONY — Nucleus Arts®". Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d Moss, Richard. "Stuckist's Punk Victorian Gatecrashes Walker's Biennial", Culture24, 17 September 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
- ^ "The SF Site Featured Review: Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, 11th Annual Collection". www.sfsite.com.
- ISBN 978-1-9996948-0-7.
External links
Media related to Bill Lewis at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Richard Bledsoe article for the Remodern Review
- Steve Spence review for Litter Magazine
- Artist Page (Facebook)
- Bill Lewis work on the Stuckism web site
- Walker Gallery Liverpool Victorian Punk Exhibition [2]
- BBC audio interview at The Stuckists Punk Victorian show, 2004
- Bill Lewis poem, "Therapy Room"
- Biography[usurped] + 7 poems[usurped] NB: Medway Delta Press website is no longer current please see Bill Lewis Official website for further information.
- Interview and gallery
- JoMA Archives: Poetry Journal of Mythic Arts Poetry Archive features some Bill Lewis Poetry
- Colony Arts - Chatham - Artistic Painting - Photography - Ceramics