LONDON ONE MAN SHOW

1964, 16mm, b&w/silent, 4min.

"LONDON ONE MAN SHOW is a four-minute silent film documenting Conner’s trip to London on the occasion of his solo exhibition at Robert Fraser Gallery in late 1964, during the height of the 'Swinging Sixties' scene. The film opens on the exterior of Fraser’s Grosvener Square gallery, an important outpost for American and particularly California artists in Europe. Conner focuses his camera on the installation of his macabre assemblages, hanging on the gallery walls and, more ominously, from the ceiling, swaying back and forth like bizarre fetishes or oversized cocoons. Next, Conner spots Fraser, or “groovy Bob” as he was known, as he holds court in the gallery’s back offices. The film segues into a travelogue when Conner rides a cab through the city, documenting the bustling traffic and iconic architecture. He stops by the British Museum to visit the Elgin Marbles, which seem to float atop their pedestals, echoing his own works’ suspended installation at Fraser’s gallery. After briefly stopping off at his modest hotel room, Conner emerges in the night to observe the vibrant array of Christmas illuminations trimming the streetscape. He finally returns to Fraser’s for his exhibition opening, where one can recognize a young David Hockney amongst the crowd of gallery goers. During the film’s final forty seconds, the camera is stationed at the back of the gallery while Conner exits the building and sprints around the block, his return marking the end of the film. Despite its commercial and critical success, Conner’s solo show at Fraser’s confirmed his growing sense of alienation from the mainstream art world, and when he returned to San Francisco he officially gave up making assemblages."

– Johanna Gosse, Art Historian

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