Over the gate...
Designed in 1913 by Victorian/Edwardian/other architect Theophilus A Allen; John Lennon's house between 1964 and 1968; sunroom, attic and prisco stripe hibernice; Mellotron and caravan; Babidji and Mimi; mortar and pestle; Wubbleyoo Dubbleyoo; curios and curiosity; remnants and residue; testimonials and traces; (Cavendish Avenue, Sunny Heights and Kinfauns); Montagu Square; mock Tudor: Brown House: *KENWOOD*.
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(Also available as a blog.)
Legal Blah: This blog is for historical research only, and is strictly non-commercial. All visual and audio material remains the property of the respective copyright owner, and no implication of ownership by me is intended or should be inferred. Any copyright owner who wants something removed should contact me and I will do so immediately. Alternatively, I would be delighted to provide a credit. The writing is by me, such as it is, unless otherwise stated, and this is the only Beatles related blog I am responsible for.
Comments Blah: Comments are moderated. Any genuine comments are welcome. Due to idiotic spamming, you'll have to press the "Follow" button on the right under "Kenwoodites..." in order to leave a comment. Offensive comments/advertising/trolling/other moronicisms are not welcome, and will be rejected.
Comments are the responsibility of the individual commenter, and commenters' opinions do not necessarily reflect my own. (NB: This blog revels in flagrant trivia. If that's not yer "thing", this won't be yer "thang".)
Correspond via: kenwoodlennon@googlemail.com
Showing posts with label robert fraser. Show all posts
Showing posts with label robert fraser. Show all posts
Monday, 1 July 2013
23 Mount Street: Robert Fraser.
As Miss Cyril "Cilla" Black might put it, there's been a lorra lorra history in these rooms. Plus a lorra lorra skag.
For this was once the second floor flat cum "salon" of art dealer to the stars Robert Fraser, much frequented by Paul and JohnandYoko. Here they would come to hang out with passing Pop artists, indulge in whatever might be indulgeable (pretty sure that's not a word), and lend unrecoverable sums of money to the titular Bob.
Fraser, o' course, was also well in with the Stones, and it was whilst looking out of these very windows upon a storm-lashed Mayfair that Keef wrote "Gimme Shelter":
Mr Richards also recalls, in his highly entertaining memoir, how Fraser would often disappear off to riffle through the pockets of the finely cut suits hanging in these very "cupboards", seeking stray heroin "jacks":
Pharmaceutical heroin was available on the NHS back then, provided one was a registered junkie. The musicians' chemist of choice for this purpose was, apparently, John Bell & Croyden of Wigmore Street; still there, though no longer a dispenser of "doojee".
Labels:
mount street,
robert fraser,
strawberry bob
Friday, 27 November 2009
Duke Street: more you are here.


More you are here. The letter and badge that balloon finders and repliers received, together with another couple of shots of John and Yoko on or about the spiral staircase in the Robert Fraser Gallery in Duke Street, at the opening of the you are here show.
Labels:
balloons,
duke street,
letter,
robert fraser,
you are here
Friday, 6 November 2009
Duke Street: Robert Fraser Gallery, 1 July - 3 August 1968; you are here.

Having just moved out (and not for the last time) of Kenwood, John and Yoko held one of their first media events at the Robert Fraser Gallery, then situated at 69 Duke Street. The newly public (not to mention pubic) pair marked the opening of John's exhibition, titled "you are here", by releasing, in the spirit of "Happening", 365 helium-filled balloons with the words, "I declare these balloons high":

Tags with the name of the exhibition were attached to the balloons. These also invited finders to write c/o the gallery, and any who did so got a letter and a badge from John. (Apparently replies from "ballooners" ranged from all good wishes to racist abuse directed at Yoko). John got the idea for the balloons from a childhood memory - he had found something similar as a boy:

The exhibition itself fitted right in with much of John's artistic endeavour that summer, being whimsy tinged with a hint of something sinister; a large white disc inscribed in the centre with a tiny "you are here", and a collection of charity boxes, seeking money for victims of polio, homeless canines etc. Jars of free badges with the name of the exhibition were also laid out.
The gallery was on two levels, with a small spiral staircase beside the front door leading down to the basement. For John's exhibition, the upper floor was (apparently) largely empty, with the exhibits displayed on the lower level.
However, the real point of the exhibition was hidden: Secret cameras filmed the reaction of attendees, with the resulting footage intended to form a film (never completed, though John had clearly viewed the footage when, on the Frost show in August, he humorously discussed the covert grabbing of as many badges as possible by certain exhibition-goers).
John also put out a hat, looking for a little personal charity:

Some students from Hornsey Art College donated a rusty bicycle, with a sarcastic note stating that John had clearly forgotten to include it; naturally, out on display the bike went, together with an example of John's footwear and the words "I take my shoes off to you":

A media frenzy ensued on opening day. Journalists were more interested in John's new paramour than any art. Kenneth Anger, the underground film maker, occultist and associate of Manson family member Bobby Beausoleil, appeared with sparklers and used them to pop as many balloons as he could.
Other more sympathetic souls were also in attendance, including the man who had introduced John and Yoko in the first place, John Dunbar, seen here on the right. He and Robert Fraser were, of course, frequent visitors at Kenwood.

The building and space which housed the gallery are still there, though now, inevitably, being used for something much more prosaic.
It's probably also worth remembering that at this point, according to the orthodox view, John & Yoko had only been together for little over a month. In that time they had produced Two Virgins (film & album), Film No 5 (Smile), collated the Four Thoughts and you are here exhibitions, done (for want of a better word) the Acorn Event at Coventry Cathedral, and completed Revolution 9. John had also worked on other White Album tracks (most notably the recently "released" (and utterly wonderful) long-form Revolution 1), and contributed to the theatrical adaptation of In His Own Write.
Plus they moved house.
Labels:
1968,
john dunbar,
robert fraser,
you are here
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Kenwood: more nights out - Claes Oldenburg opening, November 1966.


Everyone (or at least everyone who reads this rubbish) knows about the Indica night when John met Yoko. But what about their second meeting? Well, here it is. The Claes Oldenburg opening at Robert Fraser's gallery. John would have been driven up from Kenwood, probably in his Mini-Cooper. He was still going on about the giant plastic hamburgers at this exhibition a couple of days before he died.(He hated them, by the way). And for any tache aficianados - note the nascent tache in this ultra rare pic. John was one hirsute dude: within a week or so, he had a tache that would have gained him entry to the Village People.
Labels:
claes oldenberg,
john yoko meeting,
robert fraser
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