Item #40826 A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton. FINAL ACADEMY, The.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.
A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.

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A collection of items produced for The Final Academy series of performances and events celebrating the life and work of William Burroughs, staged at various venues in the UK during September-October 1982, including the original Neville Brody-designed poster for the dates at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton.

i) The Final Academy announcement programme, compiled by David Dawson, Roger Ely (who secured the Ritzy Cinema) and Genesis P-Orridge: “For the first time ever WILLIAM BURROUGHS reads in London.” 3 quarto size sheets, printed rectos only, stapled at top corner. “A rare opportunity to see William Burroughs with his lifetime collaborator BRION GYSIN, and JOHN GIORNO, one of the greatest New York live poets, reading in England. We have assembled a programme of events that will provide the British public with a unique opportunity to experience this legendary figure, a man who has not only revolutionised literature but is one of the mainstays of pop culture.” Lists the participants: Psychic TV (their live debut); Cabaret Voltaire; 23 Skidoo; Ian Hinchcliffe; Last Few Days; Z’EV; Jeff Nuttall (a no-show); Paul Burwell/Anne Bean; Roger Ely/Ruth Adams; and Terry Wilson. Details of the live shows at the Ritzy in Brixton are provided on the second page, along with news of an exhibition at David Dawson’s B2 Gallery in Wapping, held to coincide with the event (“The first exhibition to concentrate on the visual work of William Burroughs”). News of a planned reissue of the “Nova Convention” double album (an event in New York four years earlier the Final Academy was intended to emulate) are given on page 3, together with details of the specially produced catalogue and the most recent books on and by William Burroughs. Very Good plus (minor creasing).

ii) an original poster announcing “The Final Academy” at the Ritzy Cinema, Brixton, September 29-October 2, 1982. 77x48cm. Printed offset-litho in black and blue on glossy white paper stock. Designed by Neville Brody. Near Fine. Lists the main participants and states that the poster was “Sponsored by John Calder Publishers”. The artwork by Brody, who had recently been appointed art director at The Face, is reminiscent of his album cover for Clock DVA’s second album and was also used the for the event’s accompanying catalogue. Terry Wilson later recalled how Psychic TV “were top of the bill every night, chosen entirely by random means of course and that’s how it turned out because Gen had the magic running for him, the way it goes, naturally…”. This cataloguer remembers a slightly chaotic running order.

iii) a group of 7 individual tickets in four different colours made for three separate nights at the Ritzy. Design by Neville Brody. Fine.

iv) The Final Academy: Statements of a Kind. 4to. Wrps., 57pp. Designed by Neville Brody and compiled by Roger Ely. Introduction by Genesis P-Orridge. Illustrated with photographs of William Burroughs by Graham Keen, Antony Balch, Victor Bockris, Brion Gysin and John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins. Contains “Statement on the Final Academy” by Burroughs. The other contributors include Jeff Nuttall, Terry Wilson, Brion Gysin (on Antony Balch and Ian Sommerville), Victor Bockris, Jon Savage, Eric Mottram, Felicity Mason, and Miles, as well as an article by Lewis MacAdams on John Giorno reprinted from High Performance magazine. Wrappers slightly rubbed, o/w Near Fine. Loosely inserted is Compendium bookstore’s “Beats All” list (their second devoted to Beat literature), issued “to coincide with the visit to our shores of William Burroughs” and announcing “Burroughs Live at Compendium” on October 1 at 12.30. Single sheet folded once to make 4pp. Fine.

v) A flyer announcing a Final Academy-related event at Heaven, Richard Branson’s recently acquired night club housed in the arches beneath Charing Cross railway station. 14x19.5cm. B/w. Photo-illustrated. Lists participants William S. Burroughs; John Giorno; Marc Almond; Heathcote Williams; Derek Jarman; Psychic TV; Last Few Days; and Kerith Wyn Evans. Brion Gysin, who also read and performed his work, assembled a band that included Tessa Pollitt (the Slits), Bruce Smith (Rip Rig + Panic), Michael Giles (Penguin Café Orchestra), and Ramuntcho Matta. Fine.

vi) The Final Academy Documents, 1962/3 and 1982. London: Cherry Red, 2002. DVD (CRDVD 13). A film documenting William Burroughs’ reading at the Haçienda, Manchester on October 4, 1982, just after the Ritzy shows in Brixton, as well as John Giorno’s performance from the same evening. Also includes Antony Balch’s films from 1962/63, “Towers Open Fire” and “Ghosts at No.9”, the latter edited (cut up) by PTV. Near Fine.

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