The relationship between Beat literature and the visual arts mirrors the relationship the Beats had with other areas of society. While such famous Beat authors as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs demanded attention for their work, they were not necessarily the first advocates or practitioners of the artistic philosophy that came to be associated with Beat writers. However, the notoriety they gained as well as the media attention their actions and work generated allowed other artists, who had hitherto been working outside the mainstream, opportunities to merge into a larger alternative movement that revolutionized art and literature. Although many artists and painters clearly affiliated themselves with the Beats, others had philosophical common ground with them—for example, they, too, wanted to use their art in new and non-traditional ways, rebelling against established standards, and...