Blackpool Social Club is proud to be hosting a brilliant event this April, blending literature, art and nightlife at Blackpool’s newest theatre, The Old Electric
A few short decades ago you would have found Dave Haslam seeking adventure in Manchester’s club scene – most memorably hosting regular DJ sets in the legendary Haçienda. Now a successful author, adventure is found in art and literature – but the influence of the night time culture that formed him is never far from Haslam’s mind.
Adventure Everywhere: Pablo Picasso’s Paris Nightlife (Confingo) is the seventh book in Haslam’s acclaimed Art Decades series, which has found him writing about subjects including Sylvia Plath, Keith Haring, and the far-left Angry Brigade of the early ‘70s. Published 50 years after Picasso’s death, the book details the artist’s life after dark in 1900s Paris – a vibrant city alive with hedonism and creativity.
Haslam says: “In the early pages you get a sense of the adventures to be had in Montmartre and Pigalle by a young man like Picasso in amongst gypsy troupes singing of wild nights and lost love, vagabonds, anarchists, absinthe, opium dens, dives alive with ideas. But as the book develops, the idea of ‘adventure’ becomes much more to do with attitude, a radical mindset.”
Haslam will be reading from the book before discussing its themes with host Beth Barker. The pair will discuss the link between art and life after dark as well as Blackpool’s significance in British nightlife – a town also associated with hedonism and, increasingly, creativity. Haslam will take questions from the audience and will sign books before heading out into the Blackpool night to find his next adventure.
Art After Dark is presented by arts and culture website Blackpool Social Club at The Old Electric, Springfield Road, on 28th April. Beth Barker is a BSC contributor and host of Up North Books podcast. In 2022 she judged the Portico Prize which honours the strong literary heritage of the North of England. She lives in Blackpool.
For tickets visit theoldelectric.co.uk
Show Comments (0)