Keith Haring & Brion Gysin | Fault Lines

Keith Haring & Brion Gysin

Fault Lines 

Munich, Germany / New York City, USA: Edition Schellmann, 1986 

[unpaginated], 22 x 29 x 4 cm., clothbound

Edition of 200 [+ 25 AP] signed and numbered copies

Keith Haring saw William S Burroughs and Brion Gysin speak at the 1978 Nova Convention (alongside John Giorno, Patti Smith, Philip Glass, Frank Zappa, John Cage, Anne Waldman, Laurie Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, Les Levine, Robert Anton Wilson and others) and it left an indelible impression on the young artist. 

In an article for Flash Art in March 1984, Haring wrote "The work of William Burroughs and Brian [sic] Gysin came the closest in literature to what I saw as the artistic vision in painting. The artist becomes a vessel to let the world pour through him.” Elsewhere Haring characterized Gysin as “a kind of teacher” to him, and an “incredible genius” whose ideas changed his life.

He agreed to produce a series of erotic drawings to accompany Gysin’s texts for a collaborative book. When the content made finding a publisher difficult, Jörg Schellmann stepped in to help, in exchange for an object multiple from Haring [see below quote]. 

The oblong clothbound book with gilt lettering on the spine and cover and housed in a black card slipcase was released in an edition of 200 copies, intended to be signed by both artists. However, Gysin died in July of 1986, shortly before the pages were prepared for signing. His signature is therefore stamped posthumously to the imprint page. 

The work is now valued at between three and four thousand dollars, depending on condition. 

"In 1985, Keith had made a series of drawings for a text by Brion Gysin and wanted to turn this material into a book. However, he did not succeed in finding a publisher due to the heavy sexual imagery in his drawings. So he asked me if I could recommend a publisher in Germany. When I looked at the drawings, I could see the problem, but spontaneously offered to publish the book myself if Keith were to do an object in an edition for me - assuming that the book would hardly pay for its printing costs. Keith was very pleased and promised to come up with something – which indeed he did: he made the Dog multiple. As expected, the book sold slowly over the years, whereas the Dog garnered great popularity over the 30 years of its existence.” 

– Jörg Schellmann