Hollywood Babylon - An Evening of Readings

Artists, writers, and performers read short stories celebrating the idiosyncratic pantheon of public figures and Old Hollywood stars found within our current exhibition, Scott Covert's C'est la vie. Contributors include Alex Margo Arden, Hannah Regel, Harold Offeh, Lauren John Joseph, Misha Mn and Sam Cottington.

In response to Covert's highly personalised taxonomy of famous subjects, the readings for this event will delve further into the themes of 20th Century American pop culture, or Americana, relating to ideas of celebrity, gossip, mythology, and tragedy. 

This evening of readings takes its name from the highly popular, highly gossipy book Hollywood Babylon by avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger, published in 1959. Comprising untrue and exaggerated short stories, Hollywood Babylon details the alleged scandals of stars from the 1900s to the 1950s, many of whom feature throughout Scott Covert's long-standing series of Monument and Lifetime Drawing works — featuring the likes of Babe (Barbara) Paley, Bette Davis, James Dean, Joan Crawford, Florence Ballard, Marilyn Monroe, Nancy Spungen, Ramon Novarro, Rock Hudson, Sylvester James, and Warhol superstars, Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis and Edie Sedgwick.

The event is free, booking essential.