We are having a blast installing Larry Keenan’s exhibit! Such an honor to be chosen as the gallery to host Keenan’s iconic images that chronicle a remarkable era.
One of the images that will be on display is titled Last Gathering of the Beat Poets and Artists at City Lights Books. It was taken at North Beach in San Francisco in 1965 when Keenan was just 22 years old. Lawrence Ferlinghetti – a Beat Poet, artist and owner/publisher of City Lights Books, and San Francisco’s first Poet Laureate – wanted to document the 1965 Beat scene in San Francisco in the spirit of the early 20th century classic photographs of the Bohemian artists & writers in Paris.
The beats who were present included: Robert LaVigne, Shig Murao, Larry Fagin, Leland Meyezove, Lew Welch, Peter Orlovsky, David Meltzer, Michael McClure, Allen Ginsberg, Daniel Langton, Steve (friend of Ginsberg), Richard Brautigan, Gary Goodrow, Nemi Frost, Stella Levy and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Keenan felt so strongly that Poet and Zen Master, Philip Whalen – who could not be at the gathering – was represented at the event that he moved over to get Whalen’s his book behind the window in that photograph.
Come join us to experience this amazing photo (and many others) during the Larry Keenan Exhibit. We launch the exhibit with a Second Saturday event 11/13/2021 from 4-8pm at 10466 Lansing Street in Mendocino, CA. Join us for food and drinks on the deck and to raise a glass to the era-defining work of Larry Keenan and his daughter, Chelsea, who has curated this exceptional showcase of her father’s work.
