American visions

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Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs and David Lynch each had a very different photographic 'take' on America, as Alexander Adams finds

Three photographers, two books, one show

A recent memorable triple-bill at The Photographer’s Gallery, London (closed 31 March) presented three visions of America as seen through the eyes of some of its most well-known artists: Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs and David Lynch. Much of the material was new to viewers and some of it previously unexhibited.

Perhaps the most unexpected images here come from the most well-known artist. The photographs of Andy Warhol (1928–87) are most familiar through the medium of screenprints. He frequently photographed models and used these photographs as the basis of his prints and multiples. There were relatively few portraits in the London exhibition. Jerry Hall appears six times in photographs of varying exposure. Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–88) is seen eating Chinese food. The emphasis in this display was a largely unseen side of the Pop artist’s output.

Warhol’s photographs of urban environments (often barely more than corners of a garden or house) are uncharacteristically ambiguous. It is not always clear what attracted his eye. Sometimes we see something curious – the way a tree trunk has grown around a fence, flowing like lava over the impediment – but at other times one is caught by the image’s inscrutability.

The last thing we expect from Warhol is images indicative of social consciousness – or at least scenes with obviously political context – yet here they are. There are photographs of the homeless asleep in New York doorways and a shot of a Gay Pride march. Are these social scenes actually his artistic subjects? That depends on whether or not one sees this as Warhol’s art. Personally, I don’t see this as ‘Warhol’s art’ though it is material made by Warhol which can be considered art.

All of the images here are essentially snapshots. None exhibit an aesthetic and are closer to reportage than art photography. Views through the windows of junk shops and shots of car-boot sales attest to Warhol’s fascination with America’s limitless abundance of kitsch. Warhol gazes with wonder at the infinite plenitude of junk the way settler-pioneers surveyed the American interior’s vast plains, primordial forests and lofty pinnacles.

Most of the photographs are original prints at 8ins by 10ins (20 x 25cm), from the period 1976–87. None are exactly datable. It seems that upon reviewing the images, Warhol decided to have certain photographs printed multiple times and then sewn together in a way that resembles his trademark screenprints. These alone seem to have been considered part of Warhol’s official art works during his lifetime.

Ever since the filming of Eraserhead (1977), the industrial landscape has been a preoccupation for directorDavid Lynch (b. 1946). This setting forms the backdrop for much of that film, perhaps his most ominous and oppressive. In recent years, Lynch has spent more time making art than films, with only one feature film being released in the last 13 years.

Lynch has been taking photographs of factories since around 1980. The locations are in Poland, Germany, Great Britain and the USA. Each photograph shows an unnamed factory, warehouse, power station or other industrial building, all deserted. All scenes are photographed in overcast daylight conditions, heavily modified by filters applied afterwards to give them a sooty appearance. All views are either medium-distance or close-up shots; some interiors, some exteriors.

Lynch is interested in the evocative atmosphere of factories rather than recording them with a documentary intention. He is not interested in capturing evidence of industrial manufacturing but in recording a feeling of adventure and fear. The bare brickwork, rusted girders and peeling paint are both melancholy and threatening. There is an air of the clandestine, of exploring forbidden areas. The factory photographs are elegiac. Dormant dials and immoveable wheels have lost their original function and in Lynch’s photographs become as inscrutable as unearthed burial goods from a lost civilization.

Of the three photographers, it is the work of William S. Burroughs(1914–97) which is the most complex, diverse in form and heterodox in outlook. Burroughs is best known for his experimental novels featuring alienating techniques such as the cut-up, which presents seemingly unrelated material (either written, visual or both) recombined at random to reveal hidden meanings and startling associations. Burroughs photographs on display in London were of different orders: the cut-ups, where images are either physically recombined by collage or are re-photographed together; the photo-essay sequence; and the everyday snapshot.

In some of the regular photographs we see fellow Beat Generation figures Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Burroughs’ friends and lovers. The locations are Burroughs’ homes of London, New York City, Tangiers. The photographs trace the course of his peripatetic life, on the run from the law, chasing cheap opiates and available boys, searching for places where he could work without interference. Most of the photographs are from the 1960s and 1970s.

Much of the background material in the wall texts is available in the fully illustrated catalogue, which includes much original research and ties the photographs to Burroughs’s writing and theories. Collages/cut-ups by Burroughs were on show. They combine his photographs with magazine covers, typed sheets, newspaper columns and male nude photographs. The links between materials is never clear. In fact, if the connections were clear then the act of combining would be redundant. This can make them frustrating viewing for anyone searching for exact and fixed meaning. With Burroughs, the actual meaning is always shifting and evolving and must necessarily be different for each viewer, dependent on each person’s knowledge, memories and interests.

For those who could not visit the exhibitions, the two catalogues on Lynch and Burroughs will compensate. In the case of Burroughs, reading the catalogue is essential to getting the most out of the images. No catalogue of the Warhol photographs was published. 

Taking Shots: The Photographs of William S. Burroughs  by Patricia Allmer & John Sears is published by The Photographers’ Gallery/Prestel. 160pp, 150 mono illus, $49.95/£29.99 (hbk). ISBN 978 3 7913 4879 7

David Lynch  by Petra Gilroy-Hirtz  is published by Prestel. 220pp, 160 colour illus, $60/£40 (hbk). ISBN 978 3 7613 5333 3