The Indica Gallery was a counterculture

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

Mason's Yard Mason's Yard is a Squares in London, square in London SW postcode area#SW1, SW1, England. Overview Mason's Yard is a Squares in London, square or cul-de-sac on the east side of Duke Street, St James's, Duke Street in the St James's area of Londo ...

(off Duke Street),

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

, London from 1965 to 1967, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop. John Dunbar, Peter Asher, and

Barry Miles Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...

owned it, and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

supported it and hosted a show of

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

's work in November 1966, at which Ono met

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Indica Books and Gallery

Miles had been running the bookshop and alternative happenings venue Better Books but with new, more traditional, owners arriving, had been planning to open his own bookstore/venue. Through Paolo Leonni, Miles met John Dunbar who was planning on opening a gallery, and with John's friend Peter Asher as silent partner, they combined their ideas into a company called Miles, Asher and Dunbar Limited (MAD) to start the Indica Books and Gallery in September 1965, as an outlet for art and literature. They found empty premises at 6 Masons Yard, which was in the same courtyard as the Scotch of St James club,Friends of the Scotch of St James
11 November 2006 where John Dunbar was living with his girlfriend

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (29 December 1946 – 30 January 2025) was an English singer and actress who achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her UK top 10 single " As Tears Go By". She became one of the leading female art ...

, when he discovered the place. The name chosen for the bookshop/gallery was a reference to ''

Cannabis indica ''Cannabis indica'' is an annual plant species in the family Cannabaceae indigenous to the Hindu Kush mountains of Southern Asia. The plant produces large amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), with total cann ...

''.

Yoko Ono and Beatles involvement

At the time, Paul McCartney was dating Asher's sister

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

and living in the Asher family house at 57

Wimpole Street Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian architecture, Edwardian baroq ...

. He became involved with the emerging

underground culture Underground culture, or simply underground, is a term to describe various alternative cultures which either consider themselves different from the mainstream of society and culture, or are considered so by others. The word "underground" is used ...

in London, and helped set up the bookshop and gallery. He was the Indica Bookshop's first customer, before it even had premises; he would look through the books at night that were stored in the Ashers' basement and leave a note for the books that he had taken to be put on his account. Artists such as

Pete Brown Peter Ronald Brown (25 December 1940 – 19 May 2023) was an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce.Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) ...

also helped in the renovation of the Indica. Jane Asher donated the shop's first cash till, which was an old Victorian till that she had played with as a young girl. McCartney helped to draw the flyers which were used to advertise the Indica's opening, and he also designed the wrapping paper. McCartney encouraged fellow

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

member

to visit the gallery. On 7 November 1966, Lennon attended a preview evening of "Unfinished Paintings", a conceptual art exhibition by

that ran from 8–18 November. Co-owner John Dunbar had seen Ono’s performances of '' Cut Piece'' at the Destruction in Art Symposium in September and invited her to make an exhibition for the Indica Gallery. Ono was assisted in setting up the show by artist Adrian Hall, who was also present during Lennon’s visit. On seeing it, Lennon initially liked the artwork ''

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

'' and was impressed by the interactive '' Ceiling Painting/Yes Painting'', which he found very positive. While Lennon and Ono claimed that this was the first time they met, this is disputed by Miles and others.

Indica Bookshop

In 1966, the Indica Bookshop was separated from the Indica Gallery, and moved to 102 Southampton Row in the summer of 1966. The bookshop was opened on the site of an old and established bookseller and exporter called William Jackson Books Limited. Jackson's had decided to concentrate on the export side of its business and sold a twenty-year lease of the retail bookshop to Miles, Asher, and Dunbar. The name of the bookshop was promptly changed to Indica Books. Chris Hill and his wife Jo, who owned William Jackson Books, had taken a flat above the shop on Southampton Row and ran the export business from there. It soon proved to be a popular venue for the Indica Books team and the royalty of the 'swinging sixties' that were associated with them. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were visitors to the flat and on one evening, in 1966, they rehearsed a song they called "Mark I" in the flat. The song was later recorded at the

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

as "

Tomorrow Never Knows "Tomorrow Never Knows" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in August 1966 as the final track on their album ''Revolver'', although it was the firs ...

" and included on the ''Revolver'' album. The ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various Underground press, underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John Hopkins (p ...

'' newspaper was started in the basement of the Southampton Row bookshop.

2006 exhibition

An exhibition at Riflemaker (a gallery on Beak Street in London) in November 2006 revisited Indica 40 years after it was closed. It included work by the original artists including Liliane Lijn, Boyle Family/Mark Boyle and

Carlos Cruz-Diez Carlos Cruz-Diez (17 August 1923 – 27 July 2019) was a Venezuelan artist said by some scholars to have been "one of the greatest artistic innovators of the 20th century." Career In 2020, the Pérez Art Museum Miami acquired ''Chromosatura ...

as well as a younger generation of artists whose work related to some of the ideas first presented there.

References

Bibliography

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External links

John Dunbar quoted in Tate Magazine (Summer 2004) – Indica – fast and loose (my dead gallery) @ thecentreofattention.org

Yoko Ono Exhibitions: Indica Gallery (1966)

Riflemaker becomes Indica, 2006-7

Nyehaus Becomes Indica – Nov 8 to Dec 22, 2007
{{authority control 1965 establishments in England 1967 disestablishments in England Art museums and galleries established in 1965 Art museums and galleries disestablished in 1967 Defunct contemporary art galleries in London Paul McCartney John Lennon Yoko Ono