Poet Peasant : an exhibition by SJ Fowler
The Bouda Gallery – July 11th to August 5th 2025

Opening hours Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 12 noon to 5pm
132 Palace Gardens Terrace, W8 4RT. Closest tube, Notting Hill.

“An exhibition of poetry as curios, discovered text and found literary sculptures drawn from previously unseen works, selected asemic writing and the poetic props of performances across the globe. Drawing from fifteen years of rabid activity, this exhibition evidences the breadth of visual and conceptual poetry from one of the definitive experimentalists of the British 21st century literary scene. On the site of the former Notting Hill Books, a formative space for many, including Fowler, this exhibition emphasises the potential of the marginal, peculiar, detritus-as-poetry mode so removed from the medium’s stereotypical obsession with neatness, craft and clarity. From bear suits to homemade skeletons, handwritten novels to concrete poems, Poet Peasant represents some of the core aesthetic concerns of SJ Fowler - playful, eclectic and anti-singular, it is a deliberate mess of fun and weird visual literature that stretches the bounds of what poetry is.”  www.stevenjfowler.com/poetpeasant

SJ Fowler is a writer, poet and performer who lives in London. His work has been commissioned by The National Gallery, Tate Modern, BBC Radio 3, Somerset House, Tate Britain, Southbank Centre and he was part of the first Hub residency at Wellcome Collection. His visual poetry has been exhibited at the V&A, Hayward Gallery, Jerwood Space, Mile End Art Pavilion, Kielder Forest, Tate St Ives and Palais de Tokyo. He has published over 50 works, the subject of the Small Publishers Fair 2022 feature exhibition and given over 400 performances at venues around the world. He lecturer at Kingston University and is the director of the European Poetry Festival. Poet Peasant … is his 8th solo exhibition.

Event program : every event is free, in the gallery at 132 Palace Gardens Terrace, W8 4RT

Poet Peasant : Opening Event and special view
July Thursday 24th : 6pm start.

Readings and literary performances, a chance to see the exhibition after hours. With new live works from Cameron Wade, Danica Ignacio, Matthew Sokulsky, Rushika Wick, Jonathan Boyd, Lavinia Singer plus Colin Herd and SJ Fowler (who will be reading from Oberwildling a collaborative poetry collection with a poem for each year of Oskar Kokoscha’s life, on the 10 Year anniversary of it’s publication, with copies gifted to the audience.)

Peasant Poets : Performance and Collaboration event
July Saturday 26th : 2pm start.

An balmy afternoon event in the gallery celebrating the sound sonic vocalised talking improvised (and also just readings) in live poetry and duets between writers, artists, musicians. Featuring Benedict Taylor and SJ Fowler, Eleanor Wilders and Aimee Nimmo, Victor Rees, Sophia Rahim, Stephen Watts, David Spittle, Vanessa Onwuemezi and SJ Fowler, and many more to be confirmed.

Cosgrovia! The launch of Patrick Cosgrove’s selected poems
July Thursday 31st : 6pm start.

Without exaggeration one of the UK’s most original and influential poets and performers, Patrick Cosgrove’s remarkable and original work is celebrated with the book launch of his selected poems, Cosgrovia, from Steel Incisors Press. Alongside Patrick’s performance to share the book there will be readings from some of the poets whose work he has influenced, including Stephen Sunderland, Lisa Blackwell, Ailsa Holland, Cameron Wade, Bob T Bright, Martin Wakefield, Simon Tyrrell, Beverly Frydman.

Film-poem Screening event : August Saturday 2nd : 2pm

A leisurely afternoon of poetry-film screenings and literary-cinematic happenings in the gallery. Exploring the potential of text on screen, poetry within the medium of cinema, and documentaries about poets. Featuring excerpts from an upcoming David Spittle film, Vilde Bjerke Torset’s ‘Samso’ and more to be announced soon

A note on : Poet Peasant on Culture Calling July 2025

https://www.culturecalling.com/london/news/czech-centres-summer-artistic-residency

really nice my upcoming exhibition at the Bouda Gallery has been flagged by Culture Calling, it’s going to be a great month in Notting Hill.

we have four events planned and the content of the exhibition has ended up being a really weird celebration of conceptual poetry as found objects and flotsam