Boiler Room is proud to present Swimming with Arthur Russell, an ambitious tribute to the life of the maverick musician. The show coincides with the launch of 4:3, a bold new platform by Boiler Room.

The exhibition runs from 30 May - 3 June. For the opening night, we'll be throwing a broadcast party featuring Optimo's JD Twitch, and we’ll be screening cult documentary ‘Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell’

The exhibition, in collaboration with New York Public library, brings unseen pieces from Russell's personal archives to London’s echoey multi-faith church St John at Bethnal Green. This marks the first time these artefacts have travelled outside of the New York City.

Presented in the crypt of the church, the archive spans family photos, portraits, sketches, flyers, personal letters and correspondence, ephemera, press clippings, graphical scores and songbooks.

Also presented in the space are extracts from the film ‘Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell’ including rare archive of the musician performing, footage from his childhood and interviews with his parents and partner Tom Lee.

Upstairs, in the shadowy bell tower of the church is a site-specific sound installation by Andy Stott, which bridges the two best-loved sides of Russell’s work: his left-field disco experiments and his stark, emotive songwriting.

Following the exhibition, the documentary ‘Wild Combination’ will be released for free on 4:3. Stay tuned: fourthree.boilerroom.tv