❀ LINDA KING ARTS PRESENTS ❀

LINDA KING'S

ART, BOOKS & POETRY

EXHIBITION
JUNE 20TH
3 — 7 PM
OPENING RECEPTION · ON VIEW FOR ABOUT A MONTH
$20 · 1970S ATTIRE ENCOURAGED · DRESS THE PART
BLVK BOOK BEVERLY CENTER • 8TH FLOOR • LOS ANGELES, CA

CELEBRATING THE BEAT GENERATION & RAW CREATIVE EXPRESSION

Linda King with her original Charles Bukowski sculpture
ORIGINAL BUKOWSKI SCULPTUREthe original — on view for the run of the show
★ COUNTDOWN TO THE OPENING RECEPTION ★
ART. POETRY. SCULPTURE.

AN EXHIBITION HONORING LINDA KING'S LEGACY AND THE BEAT GENERATION SPIRIT

Linda King

SCULPTOR • POET • LIVING MUSE

Linda King — sculptor and poet
Scott Hall's tribute video to his mother Linda King — Linda and Charles Bukowski in 1970s Los Angeles
★ A SON'S TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER ★
HOVER TO PREVIEW · CLICK TO PLAY

A young Linda King — sculptor and poet — in 1970s Los Angeles at the beginning of the women's liberation movement. She meets Charles Bukowski, underground writer of Notes of a Dirty Old Man, and offers to sculpt his head. During the sculpting of his acne-scarred face, he seduces her with his writing and wit. As they fall in love, the literary world falls in love with his terse, brutal style. The uncensored true story of their love affair, amidst the chaos of his new-found fame.

POSTED BY SCOTT DYLYN HALL · LINDA'S SON · 13 YEARS AGO ON YOUTUBE

LINDA KING is a sculptor, poet, playwright and former actress whose life was woven into the heart of the late twentieth-century Beat scene. Between 1970 and 1975 she was the on-and-off partner of Charles Bukowski, the model for Lydia Vance in his 1978 novel Women, and the dedicatee of his 1972 poetry collection Mockingbird Wish Me Luck. Bukowski named her, in letters and interviews, as one of the great loves of his life.

Linda met Bukowski when she was already at work on a series of sculpted busts of poets and offered to sculpt his head. That piece became a Bukowski totem — photographed for half a century, and now traveling to BLVK Book for this exhibition.

She wrote her own corrective. Loving and Hating Charles Bukowski, her memoir, and the poetry collection Bukowski Undigested — the book Matt Sesow illustrated in 2008 — are not nostalgia. They are first-person testimony from inside the storm. — from the curator's notes

Her sculptural work extends well beyond Bukowski. The Beat constellation — Ferlinghetti, Hirschman, Micheline, Norse, Winans, Cherkovski, Locklin — sat for her, as did the long shadow of Robinson Jeffers. The figure work that runs alongside the portraits is unsparing: bronze nudes that prize weight and honesty over flattery.

In Linda's Own Words

ON FIRST MEETING CHARLES BUKOWSKI

I first met Charles Bukowski when Peter told me not to miss his first poetry reading at The Bridge. My husband had gone ahead with the divorce and it had become final. I went to the reading early and put pink stick-on dots on my maroon car. I was celebrating my divorce with a pink polka dot car that I was driving to Utah for the 4th of July. I was anxious to leave, but didn't want to miss Charles Bukowski's first reading.

After the reading I said to him, “You don't seem to like women much.” He said, “I love women.” He announced the party was at his house. I hit the road for Utah.

My dreams came into play with Bukowski telling me he needed help to get over a small hill to the grocery store. In the heavens I saw many things waiting for him — fame, fortune, readings, people. When I told him this dream he said he hadn't eaten for five days. Another dream showed him hanging off the edge of a cliff with no one around to help him but me. I protested telling my instructors — no, not him. I knew his reputation.

He left me for a younger woman with nice ankles. He always was a leg man.

— LINDA KING • EXCERPTED FROM HER OWN ACCOUNT, FROM LOVING AND HATING CHARLES BUKOWSKI (WILD OCEAN PRESS, SAN FRANCISCO)

The Books

PUBLISHED BY LINDA KING — AVAILABLE THROUGH ABEBOOKS

Bukowski Undigested book cover

Bukowski Undigested

POEMS BY LINDA KING • 2008 • ILLUSTRATED BY MATT SESOW

Linda's poems about Bukowski — written, in many cases, while they were still together. The first printing released at The Beat Museum in San Francisco on April 19, 2008, with full-color paintings by Matt Sesow for each poem. Sold out. Available on the secondary market.

★ FIND ON ABEBOOKS
Loving and Hating Charles Bukowski book cover

Loving and Hating Charles Bukowski

MEMOIR BY LINDA KING • 2014 • ISBN 9781941137017

Her own first-person account of the relationship that produced Women and dozens of Bukowski poems. Pulls no punches. The book Linda wrote because the story had been told everywhere except from her side.

★ FIND ON ABEBOOKS

Praise for Loving and Hating Charles Bukowski

FROM POETS & PUBLISHERS WHO KNEW BUKOWSKI

"intimate look into the heart and soul of one of America's most important poets"

— A. D. Winans
The Holy Grail: Charles Bukowski & the Second Coming Revolution

"a cauldron of sex, heavy drinking and mercurial love"

— John Bennett
creator of Vagabond Press

"a lively and animated memoir... a 'must read' for every fan"

— Neeli Cherkovski
author of Hank: The Life of Charles Bukowski

"Here's what Buk looked like when he fell in love!"

— Sharon Doubiago
My Father's Love

Special Guests

FEATURED ARTISTS APPEARING AT THE EXHIBITION

Matt Sesow self-portrait painting

MATT SESOW

SELF-TAUGHT PAINTER • DISABLED ARTIST • WASHINGTON, DC

At eight years old, Matt Sesow was struck by the propeller of a landing airplane; his dominant left hand was amputated. Self-taught, he turned that trauma into one of the most prolific careers in American art — more than 17,000 original paintings sold directly to collectors in 40+ countries, no galleries, no art school. A disabled artist whose raw, expressionist work lives in the permanent collection of the American Visionary Art Museum. Illustrator of Linda King's 2008 Bukowski Undigested.

Short film about artist Matt Sesow — struck by an airplane as a child, the loss of his hand, and how he became a painter
★ THE MATT SESOW STORY ★
HOVER TO PREVIEW · CLICK TO PLAY
A SHORT FILM ON HIS LIFE & ART · ON YOUTUBE
Dana Ellyn painting — a seated couple, a woman in a pink shirt beside a man with a cigarette and a bottle of wine

DANA ELLYN

PAINTER • WASHINGTON, DC

Figurative painter whose narrative work spans politics, social commentary, and the everyday surreal. Exhibited internationally; longtime collaborator with Matt Sesow. Her work in this show explores themes from Linda King's life and writing, and the world she shared with Bukowski.

Linda King Sculptures

EIGHT HEADS • ONE GENERATION • HOVER FOR THE FACE • CLICK FOR THE STORY

Charles Bukowski
CHARLES BUKOWSKI
1920 – 1994

Linda's lover, sparring partner, and lifelong subject. The bust she made of him is the centerpiece of this exhibition.

Read the connection
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI
1919 – 2021

Co-founder of City Lights, publisher of Howl, and the press that gave the Beats a permanent address in San Francisco.

Read the connection
Linda's sculpture of Jack Hirschman
JACK HIRSCHMAN
1933 – 2021

San Francisco Poet Laureate, communist troubadour, translator of Mayakovsky and Hikmet. North Beach's conscience. Linda unveiled his bust at The Beat Museum in 2010.

Read the connection
Jack Micheline
JACK MICHELINE
1929 – 1998

Original Beat street poet, debut book introduced by Kerouac. He showed up at Linda's door in Phoenix asking for his head to be sculpted. Linda has a story about him she still tells.

Read the connection
Harold Norse
HAROLD NORSE
1916 – 2009

Friend of William Carlos Williams, openly gay Beat-era poet. Hotel Nirvana stands as one of the underground's enduring documents.

Read the connection
A. D. Winans
A. D. WINANS
b. 1936

San Francisco poet, founder of Second Coming Press, chronicler of the Bukowski-Micheline connection. Knew everyone in this room.

Read the connection
Neeli Cherkovski
NEELI CHERKOVSKI
1945 – 2024

Bukowski's first biographer, lifelong friend, San Francisco poet. Hank: The Life of Charles Bukowski (1991) remains a primary source.

Read the connection
Robinson Jeffers
ROBINSON JEFFERS
1887 – 1962

Big Sur's prophet. Built Tor House by hand. The long shadow of California poetry behind the entire Beat generation.

Read the connection

At the Opening

A NIGHT OF VOICES · MUSIC · 1970S FASHION

Scott Dylyn Hall
★ YOUR HOST ★

SCOTT DYLYN HALL

LINDA KING'S SON

Host of the evening and producer of the exhibition through King's Dreams Productions. Linda's son brings the show to life.

Angela Jones
★ LIVE READING ★

ANGELA JONES

OF Pulp Fiction

Reading a Linda King poem at the opening — performed live with Linda present.

Dave Cobert
★ LIVE READING ★

DAVE COBERT

OF Sweet Water

Reading a never-before-publicly-heard Bukowski poem written to Linda King — a debut performance, more than fifty years after it was first put on the page.

Raymond King Shurtz
★ LIVE MUSIC ★

RAYMOND KING SHURTZ

LINDA'S NEPHEW · MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

Linda's nephew, and the man who first introduced Matt Sesow to Linda in Phoenix in 2005 during the Cheap Theatrix production of Matt's Collateral Damage painting and play. Twenty-one years later, the work returns to LA — and Raymond takes the stage.

Bruno Letort, French composer
★ World Premiere · At the Opening ★

BRUNO LETORT

French Composer · France Musique

“Love for a Man in Pain”

A new musical setting of Linda King's poetry by French composer Bruno Letort — a producer at Radio France's France Musique and founder of its Signature label, whose work spans orchestral music, string quartets and interactive opera, and who has collaborated with Pierre Henry, Fred Frith, Hector Zazou and Jean-Luc Godard. Featuring the voice of Annie Barbazza.

Event Details

OPENING RECEPTION • $20 AT THE DOOR OR IN ADVANCE • 1970S ATTIRE ENCOURAGED

OPENING RECEPTION

Saturday, June 20, 2026

3:00 PM – 7:00 PM

On view for about a month afterward.

★ GOOGLE CAL

VENUE

BLVK Book

Beverly Center, 8th Floor

8500 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048

blvkbook.com →

★ GET DIRECTIONS ✓ COPIED

GETTING THERE

Beverly Center sits at La Cienega & Beverly. Reachable via LA Metro (D Line at Wilshire/La Cienega + short transfer or rideshare). Mall parking on-site.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Linda King's original Bukowski sculpture and seven other Beat-poet busts. Her bronze nude figures. Original Bukowski Undigested paintings by Matt Sesow. New work by Dana Ellyn. Books for sale. Linda in person. Live readings by Angela Jones and Dave Cobert. Live music by Raymond King Shurtz, Linda's nephew. A 1970s-inspired fashion show by JesseJ Collections plus a Cowboy Bikini Fashion Show. Hosted by Linda's son, Scott Dylyn Hall.

RSVP / PRESS

Scott Hall — scotthallproductions@gmail.com

818-350-9026

ARTIST CONTACT

Matt Sesow — sesow@sesow.com

Dana Ellyn — dana@danaellyn.com

★ TWO FASHION SHOWS AT THE OPENING ★

A 1970s-inspired fashion presentation by JesseJ Collections, evoking the Beat-and-bohemian style of the era Linda King lived through — plus a Cowboy Bikini Fashion Show, an unexpected dash of California swagger woven through the night.

DESIGNS BY JESSEJ COLLECTIONS · PLUS A COWBOY BIKINI FASHION SHOW

Photos From the Opening

AVAILABLE AFTER JUNE 20, 2026

The opening photo gallery will go live the moment the reception begins. Until then, this button stays locked — come back after the doors open at 3 PM Pacific on June 20.

🔒 VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE OPENING

KING × BUKOWSKI × SESOW

A TWENTY-ONE-YEAR ARC, RETURNING TO LOS ANGELES

Matt Sesow Bukowski illustration

2005. Phoenix, Arizona. Painter Matt Sesow makes Collateral Damage (Living Hell), an eight-by-nine-foot canvas. Theatre director Raymond Shurtz builds a Cheap Theatrix production around it — ten playwrights writing short pieces inspired by the painting. One of the playwrights is Raymond's aunt: Linda King. Through Raymond, Matt and Linda meet.

April 19, 2008. The Beat Museum in San Francisco. Linda reads from her new poetry collection, Bukowski Undigested. On the table beside her are the original color paintings by Sesow — illustrations for every poem. The first printing sells out.

2009. Sesow opens a solo Bukowski show in Los Angeles. Then the work sleeps.

June 20, 2026. Sesow and his wife, painter Dana Ellyn, return to LA as Linda's guest artists. The original Bukowski bust will be in the room. Some of the surviving Bukowski Undigested originals travel with Sesow. Linda's son, Scott Dylyn Hall, hosts and produces. Raymond — the man who introduced them all in Phoenix twenty-one years ago — takes the stage with live music.

This is what the exhibition is for.

★ Follow the Family ★

THE ARTISTS & FAMILY BEHIND THE SHOW