A rare and unique collaboration between the renowned painter Philip Taaffe and Legendary writer / artist/ performer William S. Burroughs, “PEDE-O-RAMA” (1987) illustrates the amazing visual and conceptual intersection of two provocative periods in American art and culture- the Beat Generation of artists and writers with the fertile East Village artist community of the 1980's. Seamlessly combining the ethereal, abstract iconography of Taaffe with Burrough’s edgy grit, the Centipede transforms from a portrait of a small insect to a monolithic symbol.
Philip Taaffe (Born 1995 in Elizabeth, NJ) is one of the most celebrated contemporary abstract painters working today. After attending the Cooper Union in New York, Taaffe went on to travel widely in Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Europe. Working towards what Taaffe describes as a “Global language of Abstraction,” his paintings employ elements from different cultures throughout the world to unpack the history of form. Taaffe’s works can be found in many of the most important collection throughout the world, such as the Muse4um of Modern Art (New York, NY), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA), the Whitney Museum (New York, NY), the Guggenheim Museum (New York, NY), the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo, NY), and the Reina Sofia (Madrid, Spain). In 2007, a retrospective of his paintings from 1987-2007 titled “The Life of Forms” opened at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg in Wolfsburg, Germany.
William S. Burroughs (Born 1914 in St Louis, MO) was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer. One of the most influential cultural figures of the last century, Burroughs helped define the beat generation as well as post-modernist literature. Burroughs artworks share many of the same traits of his literary works, examining the unconscious by abandoning linear narratives and embracing chance. William S. Burroughs has collaborated with some of the most important artists of this century, including Robert Rauschenberg, Keith Haring, and George Condo.
