Andy Warhol, David Lynch and William S. Burroughs - The Photographers Gallery

The Photographer’s Gallery is one of our top picks for Spring, having made the genius curatorial decision combine rarely seen photographic works by three American post-modern masters; pop-artist Andy Warhol, filmmaker David Lynch and novelist William S. Burroughs. 

Three separate, concurrent shows (Andy Warhol: Photographs 1976 – 1987, David Lynch: The Factory Photographs, William S Burroughs: Taking Shots) are on display until 30 March.

What do these three men have in common apart from an undiscovered passion for photography? They all shaped the American cultural horizon of the second-half of the 20th century – through painting, film and literature respectively. These exhibitions, mostly consisting of black-and-white photographs, capture rural and urban life on three distinct frontiers, giving us an intimate look into their creative mindsets as we see the world through their lens. 

Warhol is said to have carried a 35mm film camera with him at all times and used more or less a complete roll of 36-exp film every day. Emerging from his show are a panoply of images of the American everyday: from houses to street sleepers to people at leisure in parks. Look out for his ‘stitched images’ series. He sewed many variants of individual photos into large grids using a sewing machine, creating tapestries of repeated images which would go on to feature in his silk-screen printing work.

Lynch, meanwhile, travelled further afield: to Europe, including the British countryside and the bleak industrial factory sites of Thatcher’s Britain. His dark, seldom-seen Factory Photographs depict abandoned cooling towers and labyrinthine pylon structures as crumbling cathedrals to human endeavour.

The third exhibition in the series, William S Burroughs: Taking Shots, is the world’s first dedicated look at the prolific photographic work of one of the America’s most important twentieth century writers. Eclectic and diverse, with everything from portraits to New York streetscapes to the aftermath of a car crash, they’re a difficult set to categorise. What does link them is Burroughs’s brilliant eye for composition, and inexhaustible interest in what was around him.

Lynch and Warhol’s photographs reflect their fascination with the age of mass-consumer industry and culture. Lynch once said: “I love man-made things. I like to see people at work, and I like to see sludge and man-made waste.” Warhol once even admitted: “I am a machine”, though anything Warhol said could not be taken at face value, despite his assertions that he could literally be read via the “surface of his pictures.” A man of mystery indeed.

Lynchian and Warholian views of the world still permeate the arts today. Lynch’s psychological TV thriller Twin Peaks and Warhol’s silkscreen paintings have influenced a whole generation of artists – even mainstream musicians such as Lana Del Rey and the phenomenally successful television series The Sopranos. Burroughs - despite his acclaim for works such as Naked Lunch and the Red Night Trilogy, is underrepresented in the museum world for his contribution to American culture, so this exhibition is a breath of fresh air.

This exhibition sheds new light on the artistic scope and innovation of these men. A day well spent.