Phosphor - a surrealist luminescence

16/02/2024

Another mention in dispatches. Thanks John. :-)

https://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2024/02/16/phosphor-a-surrealist-luminescence/

01/02/2024

A celebration of greatness...

22/01/2024

Stephen J. Clark has been travelling with us for a very long time. We are pleased to share news of his new website:
https://stephenjclark.wordpress.com/

01/01/2024

The latest issue of Prehensile Tail, with our 'prophecies, signs & portents' for the coming year, is now available as a free pdf download here:https://leedssurrealistgroup.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/prehensile-tail-5.pdf

13/12/2023

SPECTRAL PROJECTIONS V: MYTH

Leeds Surrealist Group will be presenting an evening of surprise short films on the theme of ‘Myth’, with brief introductions and a discussion, starting at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 10th January, 2024 at The Social, 21 Merrion Street, Leeds LS2 8JE

05/12/2023

Lashing out or just flailing around, the fifth issue of our Prehensile Tail (long detached from the Manticore) is now in circulation and may well have landed, barking and growling, on your doormats already…

27/11/2023

As a postscript to the previous post, an earlier photograph of Alena Nádvorníková, taken at the opening of 'Svatokrádež, in Prague in 1999, that serves now as an affirmation, (since we need no real reminders), of the greatness of the women of Surrealism...

27/11/2023

We are rather late in expressing our great sadness, at the news of the loss of Alena Nádvorníková. For those unfamiliar with an inspiring and marvelous body of work, a short item from Czech television, and although without subtitles, her images themselves speak on her behalf...

Nabízíme šest televizních kanálů, mezi které patří ČT1, ČT2, ČT24, ČT Déčko, ČT art a ČT sport. Vysíláme 24 hodin denně. Zajišťujeme doprovodné služby včetně teletextu, elektronického programového průvodce i skrytých titulků. Zabýváme se výrobou a produkcí vlastní...

20/11/2023

Sarah Metcalf’s essay ‘A Proposal for the Rewilding of Found Objects’ from S No.6 has been translated into Spanish and published in the latest issue of DAZET, No.47, issued by the Grupo Surrealista de Rio de la Plata.

19/11/2023

'Automatic Cinema'

Following our Spectral Projections IV film evening, on the theme of ‘Objects', one of the short films screened was made by our very own Peter Overton. Shot in 1990, 'The Bolton Stick’ is something of an exercise in ‘automatic cinema’. It can be viewed in its entirety here: https://vimeo.com/170040678

23/10/2023

SPECTRAL PROJECTIONS IV: OBJECTS
Leeds Surrealist Group will be presenting an evening of surprise short films on the theme of ‘Objects’, with short introductions and a discussion, starting at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 15th November, 2023 at The Social, 21 Merrion Street, Leeds LS7 3LW

15/08/2023

Thanks to all who have already ordered a copy, and to those who reported that our PayPal wasn't working for people in the UK. This is now resolved and the links are working fine...

S No.6
A journal from Leeds Surrealist Group

24 pages (including wraps) - A5 format - colour – August 2023

Texts, poems, images, collective games including

The First Automatic Riddle of the Holbeck Sphinx
Four Interpretations of a Fallen Insect Wing
A Proposal for the Rewilding of Found Objects – an essay by Sarah Metcalf
Spoon – a game of interpretation
Spoon From Memory – an exercise in remembering an object
Four Automatic Texts and an Imaginary Portrait

Price including postage & packing
UK £4.75 * Europe £5.75 * USA & Rest of the World £6.75

Available from www.surrealisteditions.co.uk

14/08/2023

S No.6

A journal from Leeds Surrealist Group

24 pages (including wraps) - A5 format - colour - August 2023
Texts, poems, images, collective games including:

The First Automatic Riddle of the Holbeck Sphinx
Four Interpretations of a Fallen Insect Wing
A Proposal for the Rewilding of Found Objects - an essay by Sarah Metcalf
Spoon - a game of interpretation
Spoon From Memory - an exercise in remembering an object
Four Automatic Texts and an Imaginary Portrait
http://www.surrealisteditions.co.uk/s.htm

26/07/2023

S No.6 is now with our printers, details to follow shortly...

24/07/2023

While we await news from the printer about the new issue, here is a review by Laurens Vancrevel of the fourth issue of our journal, 'S', published in Infosurr No.161 (March-June 2022).

"The fourth issue of 'S', entitled ‘The War of the Image’, features an impassioned review by Kenneth Cox of Annie Le Brun and Juri Armanda's Ceci tuera cela. He shares their analysis of the digital image and the omnipresent screen as a threat to the individual imagination. Cox then notes that Surrealism is in danger of being reduced simply to an endless stream of 'shared' images, devoid of meaning; he argues for a new 'occultation' of Surrealism, making it once again an 'invisible ray', and for ignoring the tyrannical world of digital screens. This issue of 'S' also contains some beautiful images by Bill Howe, Gareth Brown, Peter Overton, Jonathan Tarry, Amalia Higham and Stephen Clark, and texts full of ideas by Luke Dominey, Sarah Metcalf, Peter Overton, Bill Howe and Amalia Higham."

Further information on Infosurr can be found here: https://infosurr.net

21/06/2023

A lovely surprise from our dear friend, Kathleen Fox:
"Created with single photos of beach sand on black paper. Each image is slightly different as I moved the sand around with my finger."
https://vimeo.com/832328391

Created with single photos of beach sand on black paper. Each image is slightly different as I moved the sand around with my finger.

05/06/2023

Our grateful thanks to Howard and all at Twisted Spoon press, for the recently arrived copies of the new edition of 'Baradla Cave' by Eva Švankmajerová.
"Translated from the Czech by Gwendolyn Albert, cover and frontispiece by the author, collages by Jan Švankmajer, afterword by Vratislav Effenberger."
(The re-publication of this important work also re-ignites our voracious appetites for the forthcoming volume, 'Mental Morphology': Selected Writing & Art')

04/06/2023

While we await the completion of Stephen's new book, we thought we'd share this short interview, in which he talks about his experiences of collective games and how this still informs his creative process...
https://soundcloud.com/henrik-moeller-180995804/159-in-deliriums-circle-stephen-clark?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=1&si=9b138a16e4804d369f9e2d6e4ad14f1b&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing&fbclid=IwAR274NgNlytX4aCsKCW9q4HyVLDPcPmbqft41SbpPPnEOSsf4vUnzfFzvvY

Skräckförfattaren Stephen Clark intervjuas om kreativitet och sin mästerliga roman "In deliriums circle".

18/11/2022

A reminder that 'S' No.5 is in circulation - although No.1 is out of print, there are still some copies of 2, 3 & 4.

10/11/2022

'S' No. 5
A journal from Leeds Surrealist Group
24 pages (including wraps) - A5 format - colour – November 2022
Texts, poems, images, collective games including
A Tower Struck by Lightning – an essay on Surrealism's institutional assimilation
The Mystery Play – an excerpt from a game of interpretation
Oak Eggs Except One – a collective poem written with the Paris Surrealist Group
Proposed Titles – a game of poetic appellations for an untitled drawing
Dick – a game with a found torn page from a novel
A Fairy Tale – excerpts from a game with a painting by Guy Girard
After the Plague – fragments from an assembly

Price including postage & packing
UK £4.50 * Europe £5.50 * USA & Rest of the World £6.50
Available from www.surrealisteditions.co.uk

09/11/2022

A couple of teasers from the content of 'S' No.5. Details and availability to follow soon...

07/11/2022

'S' No. 5, fresh from the printers and available soon...

22/10/2022

Another image featured in Alcheringa No.3:
'The Crucified Pachyderm' Kenneth Cox (2020)

17/10/2022

Further to our recent post in relation to the latest issue of 'Alcheringa' from the Surrealist group in Paris, rare pair of 'companion' images from Peter Overton...

16/10/2022

MADE IN PRAGUE FESTIVAL PRESENTS KUNSTKAMERA 15
Part of 26th Made in Prague Festival. Czech Republic , Various, Jan Švankmajer, 75m.
The 26th Made in Prague Festival in collaboration with the Garden Cinema proudly presents the UK Premiere of Kunstkamera, the last film by Jan Švankmajer, part of the New Czech Cinema strand showcasing the best Czech films, cherry-picked from the international festival circuit.
Kunstkamera + Historia Naturae, Diamension of Dialogue by Jan Švankmajer.

https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/made-in-prague-festival-presents-kunstkamera/

The 26th Made in Prague Festival in collaboration with the Garden Cinema proudly presents the UK Premiere of Kunstkamera, the last film by Jan Švankmajer, part of the New Czech Cinema strand showcasing the best Czech films, cherry-picked from the international festival circuit. Kunstkamera + Histor...

16/10/2022

Kenneth Cox and Peter Overton of Leeds Surrealist Group each have a photograph published in the latest issue of Alcheringa, the journal of the Paris Surrealist Group.
(Unable to provide a link - Facebook advises it contravenes their 'Community Standards'!)

05/08/2022

A review by Kenneth Cox of Kathleen Fox’s exhibition 'Dreaming The Found’, held at Farleys gallery last year, has been published in Infosurr No.156.
An English language version of the review: https://kennethcox.wordpress.com
Further information about Infosurr No.156: https://infosurr.net/publication-du-n-156-dinfosurr/
Details of the exhibition: https://www.farleyshouseandgallery.co.uk/exhibition-detail/dreaming-the-found/

28/07/2022

It is with deep sadness that we heard this news yesterday. For those of us in the Leeds group that had the pleasure and privilege to visit Chicago and spend time with Paul, this sense of loss and sadness is doubly deepened...

Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company offers condolences to all who knew our friend, board member, and author Paul Garon, who died on Monday at 80 years old.

Paul was a scholar and lover of the blues. In 1970 he co-founded Living Blues magazine with original editors Jim O’Neal and Amy van Singel as well as Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records and others; he was also a longtime contributor to the magazine. He authored The Devil's Son-In-Law: The Story of Peetie Wheatstraw & His Songs (Studio Vista, London, and Black Swan Press, 1971) and Blues and the Poetic Spirit (Eddison Press, London, 1975; Hachette Books, 1979; and City Lights Books, 1996). He co-authored with his spouse Beth Garon Woman with Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues (City Lights Books, 1992) and with Gene Tomko What's the Use of Walking if There's a Freight Train Going Your Way? Black Hoboes & Their Songs (Charles H. Kerr, 2006), a book that Robin D.G. Kelley described as a “masterpiece of cultural history.”

Paul became a member of the Chicago Surrealist Group in 1967, when he first met Franklin and Penelope Rosemont at Solidarity Bookshop and learned of their shared love for Peetie Wheatstraw. He was on the editorial board of Arsenal: Surrealist Subversion, English-language Journal of the International Surrealist Movement. Paul was the author of Rana Mozelle: Surrealist Texts (Black Swan Press, 1972). He co-edited with Franklin Rosemont and Penelope Rosemont The Forecast Is Hot! Tracts & Other Collective Declarations of the Surrealist Movement in the U.S., 1966-1976 (Black Swan Press, 1997). He contributed to the Radical America special issue on “Surrealism in the Service of the Revolution” (January 1970) edited by Franklin Rosemont, as well as the “Surrealism in the USA” special issue of the journal Race Traitor (The New Abolitionists, 2001) and Surrealist Subversions: Rants, Writings and Images by the Surrealist Movement in the United States, (Autonomedia, 2002), the latter two publications edited by Ron Sakolsky.

Paul was a seller and aficionado of rare books: he was founding partner of Chicago Rare Books, and with Beth Garon, ran Beasley Books. He was a longtime board member of the Midwest Antiquarian Bookseller's Association. He also compiled the voluminous Kerr back catalog in The Charles H. Kerr Company Archives 1885–1985: A Century of Socialist and Labor Publishing (1985).

Paul had a passion for Freudian psychology, which he incorporated into his studies of blues and surrealism. He was known among his surrealist accomplices as a fine drawer of sailboats. We will miss him tremendously.