Bill Lewis

Infobox Artist
name = Bill Lewis

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imagesize = 180px
caption = Bill Lewis circa 1980
birthname = William Lewis
birthdate = Birth date and age|1953|8|1
location = Maidstone, Kent, England
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = British
field = Painting, poetry, fiction
training =
movement = Stuckism
works = "God Is an Atheist: She Doesn't Believe in Me"
patrons =
influenced by =
influenced =
awards =

William "Bill" Lewis (born August 1, 1953) is an English artist, story-teller, poet and mythographer. Milner, Frank, ed. "The Stuckists Punk Victorian", p.86, National Museums Liverpool 2004, ISBN 1-902700-27-9. Pages 6-30, Charles Thomson's essay, "A Stuckist on Stuckism", can be found online at [http://www.stuckism.com/Walker/AStuckistOnStuckism.html stuckism.com] .] He was a founder-member of The Medway Poets and of the Stuckists art group.

Life and career

Bill Lewis was born in Maidstone, Kent, England. He attended Westborough Secondary Modern School and left in 1968 with no qualifications. In 1975, with his friend, Rob Earl, he started a series of poetry readings called "Outcrowd" at the Lamb pub (later re-named Drakes' Crab and Oyster House] by the River Medway in Maidstone.Milner, p.8] Both Charles Thomson and Billy Childish, the later co-founders of the Stuckists group, read at these events. Evans, Katherine, ed. "The Stuckists", p.6, Victoria Press 2000, ISBN 0-907165-27-3] He spent a year unloading trucks in Cheeseman department store in Maidstone, then in 1976 he had a nervous breakdown, attempted suicide and spent three months in Crossfield psychiatric ward, West Malling. 1977-1978, he studied Foundation Art at Medway College of Art and Design, at the same time as Childish and Philip Absolon, another future Stuckist.

In 1979, his interest in Berlin Cabaret, combined with the current punk culture, led him to joining up with Childish, Charles Thomson, Sexton Ming, Rob Earl and Miriam Carney to found the anarchic poetry performance group, The Medway Poets, which he named. The group performed in colleges, pubs and festivals, including the International Cambridge Poetry Festival in 1981. It was the subject of a TV South documentary the following year.Milner, p.9] In Lewis's performances, he "jumped on a chair, threw his arms wide (at least once hitting his head on the ceiling) and pretended he was Jesus." 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.

1978-82 he was the CSSD Porter at West Kent General Hospital, which provided subject matter for many of his poems at the time. He knew Tracey Emin and helped edit her short stories for her first book, "Six Turkish Tales" (Hangman books 1987). Since 1982, he has been a full-time artist with "occasional forays into tomato picking", Buckman, David, "Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945", p.954, Art Dictionaries, Bristol, 2006, ISBN 095326095-X] though he gave up visual art for fifteen years, until 1997, when he began to make prints and paintings once more. [Sherwin, Brian. [http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2006/12/art-space-talk-bill-lewis.html "Art Space Talk: Bill Lewis"] , myartspace.com, 29 December 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2008. ]

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. In 2001, he taught mythology at Kent Children's University. 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. [ [http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/stuckists/ "The Stuckists Punk Victorian"] , Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 6 April 2008.] He was quoted about Remodernism in the book accompanying the show:He was one of the ten "leading Stuckists" [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Slideshow/slideshowContentFrameFragXL.jhtml?xml=/arts/slideshows/gowest/pixgowest.xml&site= "Go West"] , "The Daily Telegraph". Retrieved 29 March 2008.] in the Go West exhibition at Spectrum London gallery in October 2006.

He has had a solo show at the Rochester International Photography Festival. [http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/exhibitions/stuckists/billlewis.asp "Bill Lewis"] , Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 6 April 2008.]

Art

His position in art in many ways stands for the Stuckist ethic.Moss, Richard. [http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/exh_gfx_en/ART24134.html "Stuckist's Punk Victorian Gatecrashes Walker's Biennial"] , 24hourmuseum.com, 17 September 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2008.] He is not part of the mainstream art world, and is self-taught—acknowledging that "experts" may consider that he "can't paint properly"—yet is confident of the worth of his art: "I do this because I can’t do anything else and I’ve spent 20 years doing it." 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. He names as influences Marc Chagall, Paula Rego, Ana Maria Pacheco, films and comic books. He has stressed sincerity in art: "People are never sure if we are being ironic or not. We are not. We are coming from the heart."

He often uses symbols in his work, frequently imagery from Jewish, Christian and Pagan traditions. A white dog that appears in paintings is a trickster figure that indicates the human shadow; a blindfold woman, applying make-up, is linked to the Shekinah. These symbols are mostly "unconsciously generated" to create "magical realist" paintings. He said of his painting, "God Is an Atheist: She Doesn't Believe in Me":

Writing

Lewis has published six books of poetry and three of short stories; he has made five reading tours in the United States and one in Nicaragua. His writing is included in "The Green Man" (Viking Press), World Fantasy Award winner, as well as "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror" (1997)and (1998) [http://www.sfsite.com/07b/fant37.htm] . His work was published in "The Grandchildren of Albion", edited by Michael Horowitz. Hisi poems were translated into Spanish by the Puerto Rican poet Naomi Ayala, though not published. Several of his short stories were translated and published in Germany by Connie Lösch. He has also been a small press publisher under differing imprints, including the Lazerwolf Press.

In 2005 he founded The Medway Delta Press. 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.

Gallery

ee also

*The Medway Poets
*Medway groups

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.stuckism.com/lewis/index.html Bill Lewis work on the Stuckism web site]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A3039121 BBC audio interview at "The Stuckists Punk Victorian" show, 2004]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~trbell/metaphor/thought1.htm Bill Lewis poem, "Therapy Room"]
* [http://www.medwaydeltapress.com The Medway Delta Press]
* [http://www.endicott-studio.com/bios/biolewis.html Biography] + [http://www.endicott-studio.com/cofhs/index.html 7 poems]
* [http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2006/12/art-space-talk-bill-lewis.html Interview and gallery]