Draft:Lewis G. Burton

Lewis G. Burton
Born16 August (year unknown)
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
EducationFine Art, London Metropolitan University (Sir John Cass School of Art & Design)
Occupations
  • Artist
  • DJ
  • performance artist
  • activist
  • curator
  • cultural producer
Known forFounding INFERNO; co-founding London Trans+ Pride
AwardsFuture Fighters Award, Gay Times (2022)
Websitelewisgburton.com

Lewis G. Burton (born 16 August) is a British multidisciplinary artist, DJ, performance artist, activist, curator, and cultural producer based in London. They are best known as the founder of INFERNO, a queer techno rave and performance-art platform, and as a co-founding organiser of London Trans+ Pride, which in 2025 became the largest trans pride march ever recorded, drawing over 100,000 participants.[1] Burton's work spans club culture, visual art, theatre, and music, and is rooted in advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, trans+ visibility, and working-class queer communities.

Early life and education

Burton was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and grew up in a working-class, former mining village on the city's outskirts.[2] They relocated to London in 2010 to study Fine Art at the Sir John Cass School of Art & Design (now part of London Metropolitan University).[3] Early artistic influences cited by Burton include performance artist Leigh Bowery, singer Grace Jones, and actor and cult figure Divine.[3][2] Burton has described discovering Leigh Bowery during their foundation year as a formative moment.[3]

Career

Visual art and performance

Burton's interdisciplinary practice explores themes of gender, identity, queerness, and class. Their performances and visual art works have been presented at institutions including the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and ArtHouse Jersey.[4]

Early in their career, Burton performed across London's underground club circuit and alternative art venues, including the Institute of Contemporary Arts, The Bargehouse at Oxo Tower, The Peckham Space, and the Mori and Stein Gallery.[4]

In December 2022, Burton's first full-length interdisciplinary theatre piece, TRANSPHORIA, premiered at the ICA in London, selling out the venue. The show incorporates multimedia installation, live performance, and underground club culture to explore trans identity and gender euphoria. It was included in the ICA's 75th-anniversary season.[5][6]

In February 2025, Burton walked the runway at Paris Fashion Week for the label Matières Fécales.[7]

INFERNO

In February 2015, Burton founded INFERNO, a queer techno rave and performance-art platform in East London.[8][7] What began as a 100-person underground party grew into a recurring community rave hosting more than 1,000 attendees per event.[9] Dazed Digital described Burton as "the closest thing in London to Divine", crediting them with creating a space for trans+, non-binary, and queer artists to perform and connect.[9]

INFERNO's programming fuses heavy techno edits of pop music with avant-garde performance art and experimental visual art. Over the course of a decade, INFERNO launched its own zine highlighting queer artists and events; hosted an anti-Brexit party at the ICA on the eve of the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union in January 2020; and hosted a residency at RADION in Amsterdam, as well as expanding its programme across Europe and Asia.[8][7]

In 2018, Burton created the INFERNO Summit, a bi-annual symposium held at the ICA featuring panel discussions, workshops, live art, screenings, and skill-sharing sessions focused on trans+ and queer nightlife culture. Past contributors to the Summit have included Travis Alabanza, David Hoyle, Kae Tempest, Wu Tsang, Mykki Blanco, and Kai-Isaiah Jamal.[10]

In November 2025, to mark INFERNO's tenth anniversary, Burton curated and released Inferno 10: Compilation, a 25-track album on the INFERNO label (see Discography).[11] Burton subsequently announced a temporary hiatus for INFERNO's events programming following the anniversary celebrations, while indicating plans for the event's return.[7]

London Trans+ Pride

Since its inception in 2019, Burton has been a founding member and one of the lead organisers of London Trans+ Pride.[12] The annual march has grown year on year: in 2024, it drew an estimated 60,000 participants, making it at the time the largest trans-only pride event in the world.[13]

In 2022, Burton and the wider London Trans+ Pride organising team received the Future Fighters Award from Gay Times.[7]

In 2025, Burton announced the march's theme as Existence and Resistance, responding to the UK Supreme Court's ruling on the legal definition of "woman" under the 2010 Equality Act, which was made without consultation from any trans-led organisation.[14] Burton said of the ruling: "This year's theme is Existence and Resistance because every day we live our lives with dignity and joy is an act of protest."[14] At the official 2025 launch event at The Mandrake Hotel on 18 July 2025, Burton told attendees: "We are here to remind [one another] that we're not going anywhere, we are loved."[15]

The 2025 march took place on 26 July 2025 and drew over 100,000 people to the streets of London — the largest trans pride march ever held anywhere in the world.[1][16]

Music

Burton is an active DJ and recording artist. Their debut EP, Pain Relief (2020), included the track "Hermaphrodite", which was subsequently remixed by Louisahhh, Wax Wings, Samantha Togni, and Jasmine Infiniti.[17] Burton's DJ sound is characterised by heavy techno, acid, and pop edits.[6]

In November 2025, Burton released "MOTHERS MILK" — the opening and closing track on Inferno 10: Compilation, INFERNO's tenth-anniversary compilation album. The album features 25 artists from the global queer underground and was curated by Burton and mastered by Joe Farr (JFM Mastering). It is described as "both archive and invocation — a celebration of chosen family, divine femininity, and the flames that refuse to burn out."[11]

Burton has performed DJ sets internationally, including at venues and festivals such as Body Movements, Down The Rabbit Hole, Printworks, Pickle Factory, Five Miles, Dalston Superstore, Electrowerkz, and clubs in Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, and India.[18]

Media and recognition

Burton has been the subject of profiles and features in publications including Dazed Digital, i-D, British Vogue, Frieze, and Mission Magazine.[2][9][7]

Burton's work founding and sustaining INFERNO is discussed in the academic book Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution (2024) by Amin Ghaziani, published by Princeton University Press.[19]

Personal life

Burton identifies as trans+ and intersex.[14] They have spoken publicly about growing up working-class and the importance of creating accessible, inclusive cultural spaces outside mainstream institutions.[2] As of 2025, Burton is writing a book described as a guide to community leadership, drawing on their decade of experience in queer nightlife.[7]

Discography

Extended plays

Title Year Label
Pain Relief 2020 Self-released

Singles

Title Year Notes
"Hermaphrodite" 2020 Debut single; remixed by Louisahhh, Wax Wings, Samantha Togni, Jasmine Infiniti[17]
"MOTHERS MILK" 2025 Lead track on Inferno 10: Compilation (INFERNO label); also released in "INFERNO Mix" version[11]

Compilation appearances

Album Year Label Track(s)
Inferno 10: Compilation 2025 INFERNO "MOTHERS MILK"; "MOTHERS MILK (INFERNO Mix)"[11]

Performances and exhibitions (selected)

  • FLESH (performance, collaboration with Victor Ivanov)
  • TRANSPHORIA (full-length interdisciplinary performance) – ICA, London, December 2022[5]
  • Paris Fashion Week runway – Matières Fécales, February 2025[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Hatch, Eliza (28 July 2025). "Love and rage at the record shattering London Trans+ Pride 2025". Huck. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d "Lewis G. Burton on the Magic of Change". Mission Magazine. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  3. ^ a b c Gerry, Alex (2020). "Lewis G Burton". Alex Gerry. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Introducing – Lewis G Burton – Performance Artist". Vada Magazine. 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  5. ^ a b "TRANSPHORIA". Institute of Contemporary Arts. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  6. ^ a b "Lewis G. Burton: The Ransom Note Mix". The Ransom Note. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "A decade of club kid fashion and chaos at INFERNO". Gay Times. 11 March 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  8. ^ a b "Behind the Decks: Lewis G. Burton". TMRW Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  9. ^ a b c "Inside London's legendary LGBTQ+ rave Inferno". Dazed Digital. 25 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  10. ^ "INFERNO Summit". INFERNO London. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  11. ^ a b c d "INFERNO 10: Compilation Album". Bandcamp. INFERNO. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  12. ^ "London Trans+ Pride to march through capital this weekend". PinkNews. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  13. ^ "London Trans+ Pride 2025". Londonist. 6 May 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  14. ^ a b c "London Trans+ Pride announce 2025 theme with support from famous names". Skiddle. 6 May 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  15. ^ "Ella Morgan among stars at London Trans+ Pride 2025 launch". PinkNews. 22 July 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  16. ^ "London Trans+ Pride 2025: A Historic Mobilization for Trans Rights in the UK". Left Voice. 4 August 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  17. ^ a b "Hermaphrodite The Remixes". Bandcamp. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  18. ^ "Lewis G Burton". Quarantune. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2026.
  19. ^ Ghaziani, Amin (2024). Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-25386-2.


Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:People from Newcastle upon Tyne Category:Alumni of London Metropolitan University Category:British DJs Category:British performance artists Category:British activists Category:Non-binary people Category:Nightclub owners Category:British art curators Category:British musicians Category:Techno musicians

allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Lewis_G._Burton