Brion Gysin was a Canadian-born artist, poet, and performer who was best known for his involvement in the Beat Generation and his avant-garde visual and literary works. Born in 1916 in Taplow, England, Gysin was raised by his mother, a Canadian nurse, and his father, an English doctor.
Gysin attended the University of Cambridge, where he studied English Literature. After graduating, he decided to pursue a career in the arts, and in 1938, he moved to Paris. It was there that he developed a lifelong friendship with William S. Burroughs and became an integral part of the Beat Generation.
Gysin was a prolific artist, creating works in multiple mediums. Many of his works were influenced by his travels in Morocco, and he was known for his use of color and texture in his paintings. He also experimented with photography and other visual arts, as well as writing poetry and prose.
Gysin was also a pioneer of sound art and tape manipulation, creating his own form of music using a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a modified shortwave radio. He was also one of the first people to use a flanger and phaser in his music.
In the 1960s, Gysin collaborated with Burroughs on several projects, including the “cut-up” technique, which involved rearranging existing texts to create new works. Gysin also wrote several books, including The Third Mind, which he co-authored with Burroughs, and The Last Museum, a collection of his visual and literary works.
Throughout his career, Gysin was a prolific and influential artist. His works were exhibited in galleries and museums across the world, and he has been credited with paving the way for the avant-garde art movement. He died in 1986 in Paris, leaving behind a legacy of creativity and innovation.
