There is a tiny artistic space in Manhattan called Half Gallery, dedicated to showing the work of most iconoclastic emerging artists. In November 2008, it hosted a peculiar installation that featured only two sculptures: one was the image of William Burroughs sitting with a shotgun, and the other was a likeness of Amy Winehouse with a gunshot wound to the head. The opening event lacked press coverage, and there were only a handful of articles written on this exhibit that was valued at approximately 100 thousand dollars.
Those who are already familiar with William Burroughs won’t be surprised of the representation of him and bullets to the head, considering how in 1951 he killed his wife, Joan Vollmer, who was part of the Beatnik generation and friend to several writers including Jack Kerouac.
According to one of the many changing versions Burroughs told, he challenged his wife to recreate the scene of William Tell shooting an arrow at his son’s head. Both were supposedly under the effects of drugs and alcohol which in the end proved to have fatal results. Vollmer died moments after Burroughs missed the target above her head. Despite the writer evading justice, this chapter left its mark on his life.
In a similar fashion, Amy Winehouse also underwent several consequences due to her addiction to drugs and alcohol. Both artists used art to uncover the complexity behind their abuse of illegal substances. Through novels like Junkie and Naked Lunch, the author described the world of hard drugs from his own experiences in cities such as New York, New Orleans, and Mexico City, which he left after being pursued by local authorities.
Winehouse rose to fame with the song “Rehab,” which detailed the attempts of those around her to getting rehabilitation and her constant avoidance of it. Her voice blended with the rhythms of Blues, Soul, and Jazz, which resulted in a prolific career that was cut short. The only slight consolation to losing this young artist can be found in the music she left behind.
Her particular retro style that alluded to the sixties left a unique void that will be hard to recreate. The use of heroin and ketamine caused Winehouse to develop eating and mental disorders impossible to sustain, consequently leading to her death in 2011.
Three years prior to Winehouse’s death, Marco Perego created a piece titled “The Only Good Rockstar is a Dead Rockstar,” which presented the scene of American writer William Burroughs with a weapon and Amy Winehouse dead on the floor, bleeding out while being liberated of addiction.
The artist behind the exhibit tried to recreate an impossible circumstance that would feel real to the viewer. Perego also made this piece as a kind of tribute to both of the artists he admired.
The piece contains a deep subtext for those who know the history of both protagonists. These two people were victims of a game that resulted in both having complicated lives full of unstoppable excess.
The similarities between the lives of Burroughs and Winehouse were well represented in this installation. Perego portrays the troubled songstress being freed from her dependency by a bullet to the head. This scenario could be read as a double atonement for both of the iconic figures.
Translated by María Suárez
