So said Wally Hedrick, owner of the 6 Gallery on Fillmore Street in 1950s San Francisco, the era when the soon-to-be renowned Beat Generation developed with the emergence of seminal literary figures like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Keroac, Gary Snyder and Michael McClure, among others.
In the latest edition of its Art Film Fridays series, the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts explores that era in San Francisco’s history with a screening of Mary Kerr’s Swinging in the Shadow: San Francisco’s Wild History Groove, an illuminating film that traces in detail the “beatniks” and the artists that hung out with them. The screening is set for Friday, March 15 at 7pm, preceded by a set of music from local jazz stalwarts Si and Max Perkoff at 6:30pm, and a Q&A with Kerr following the screening.
According to the Sonoma Sun, one particularly riveting portion shows Allen Ginsberg, in 1955, debuting his most famous poem “Howl” at 6 Gallery, with Keroac, Snyder, McClure, Phillip Lamantia and Phil Whalen on hand to listen and read their latest works.
““We started it (the 6 Gallery) because no place in the city would show our work,” Hedrick said. “Now, it’s all gotten kind of myth-like. But it was a time, in my personal life and in my work, when I felt like I was in-control and out-of control simultaneously and it was a lot of fun—a hell of a lot of fun.”
The 411: The O’Hanlon Center for the Arts explores the Beat Generation in San Francisco with a screening of Mary Kerr’s Swinging in the Shadow: San Francisco’s Wild History Groove. The screening is set for Friday, March 15 at 7pm, preceded by a set of music from local jazz stalwarts Si and Max Perkoff at 6:30pm, and a Q&A with Kerr following the screening. O’Hanlon, 616 Throckmorton Ave. MORE INFO.
Here’s a trailer for the film: