What the Artist Saw: Art Inspired by the Life and Work of Joe Orton

The exhibition, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the death of Joe Orton and celebrates LGBT history month, features three artists: painter David Lock who was Joe Orton’s nephew, sculptor Louise Plant and performance artist Tim Youd.

Joe Orton was one of the UK’s most significant authors of the 20th century, and perhaps few will know that he is also famed for his collage work. Those collages had him jailed, because he and his then partner Kenneth Halliwell (who murdered him) were using the covers of library books for their material. They would make alterations to the covers usually of a ‘smutty’ nature that were often comical if not hilarious. However, the judge did not agree and they were sent down.

MOCA London has invited three contemporary artists, David Lock, Louise Plant and Tim Youd, to make a new work reflecting on Orton as part of the UK’s LGBT History Month. We will also be showing related material from the Orton Archive at the University of Leicester. MOCA will also display its first edition of Orton’s What the Butler Saw. The play premiered at the Queens Theatre in 1969 and Tim Youd will perform in the theatre’s lobby for a week typing out the full play on a single sheet of paper.