john giorno estate
New York, 1936—2019
At the crossroads of poetry, visual arts, music, and performance, John Giorno’s work targets a broad audience, redefining the capabilities of poetry and linguistic form. The New York-born poet and performance artist is recognized as a leading figure of the Beat Generation, a group of American post-World War II writers who rose to prominence in the 1950s through the cultural phenomena they documented and inspired. Giorno’s work encompasses two disciplines: poetry and art, which both fascinated and inspired the artist. His relationships and kinship with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg profoundly influenced his work. Giorno’s words also incorporate images in his Poem Paintings, which feature short excerpts from his writings, phrases that have continually haunted him.
In his first poetry anthology, The American Book of the Dead (1964), Giorno employed Pop Art techniques, such as the appropriation of found imagery in his poetry. That same year, he began applying cut-up and montage techniques to found texts. His first audio poem piece debuted at the Paris Museum of Modern Art Biennale in 1965. He is also credited with inventing Performance Poetry and Dial-A-Poem—a free telephone line connecting listeners to recordings of original works of poetry. Under his not-for-profit production compaNew York, Giorno Poetry Systems, he organized a number of multimedia poetry experiments and events. In 1970, his Dial-A-Poem installation at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, merged words and images to confront audiences with poetry in different contexts.
In 2008, the first career-spanning collection of Giorno’s poems, Subduing Demons in America: Selected Poems 1962–2007, was published. His first solo show, Black Paintings and Drawings, took place at Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery in New York in 2012. In 2021, Giorno posthumously received the American Book Award from The Before Columbus Foundation for his book Great Demon Kings: A Memoir of Poetry, Sex, Art, Death, and Enlightenment.
John Giorno passed away in New York, in 2019.
giorno poetry systems matchbook poems. 1970
john giorno reading at st. mark's church. new york, april 28, 1974. photo by gianfranco mantegna
john giorno band at cbgb's. new york, united states, dec 9 1986. photo by kate simon
john girono, buddhas and bodhisattvas (rainbow), 1973. silkscreen on rice paper. 38 1/8h x 42 1/2w in
john giorno, window curtain poem: will suck them dry, 1969. spraypaint on vinyl
john giorno, seale, 1969. spraypaint on vinyl. 38 1/8h x 42 1/2w in
john giorno, dial-a-poem (2012 edition),1968-2012. telephone, soundfile player with 200 digitally recorded poems from 80 poets
john giorno, installation view of dial-a-poem, 1968-2019. set of 4 telephones containing with 293 digitally recorded poems from 135 poets and artists. the museum of modern art, new york, 2023
john giorno, life is a killer, 2012
john giorno, put your ear to stone and open your heart to the sky, 1991. silkscreen. 14 3/8h x 14 3/8w in
john giorno, CHERRY BLOSSOMS ARE RAZOR BLADES, 2017. acrylic on canvas. 40h x 40w in
john giorno, a hurricane in a drop of cum, 2015. acrylic on canvas. 40h x 40w in
john giorno, we gave a party for the gods and the gods all came, 2018, at chateau des versailles
Selected solo exhibitions include: Welcoming the Flowers, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2025); SIT IN MY HEART AND SMILE, Moraes-Barbosa Collection, São Paulo, Brazil (2025); John Giorno: Jasmine Burn, kurimanzutto, New York (2024); John Giorno Dial-A-Poem, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (2023); John Giorno, Almine Rech, London (2021); John Giorno: DO THE UNDONE, Sperone Westwater, New York (2019); Ugo Rondinone: I ♡ John Giorno, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015); traveled to 13 venues throughout Manhattan, New York (2017); I love John Giorno - an exhibition by Ugo Rondinone, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015); Star 69: Dial-A-Poem Relics, The Bauer Hotel, Campo San Moise, Venice (2011); Diagonales, Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Puteaux, France (2010); LIFE IS A KILLER, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris (2009); LA SAGEZZA DELLE STREGHE/ WISDOM OF THE WITCHES / LA SAGESSE DES SORCIÈRES, Kaplan Project n°3, Naples, Italy (2005).
installation view of ugo rondinone: i ♥ john giorno at palais de tokyo, paris, 2015
installation view of ugo rondinone: i ♥ john giorno at palais de tokyo, paris, 2015
installation view of ugo rondinone: i ♥ john giorno at palais de tokyo, paris, 2015
installation view of ugo rondinone: i ♥ john giorno at sky art, new york, 2017
installation view of ugo rondinone: i ♥ john giorno at hunter 205 hudson, new york, 2017
installation view of ugo rondinone: i ♥ john giorno at swiss institute, new york, 2017
Selected group exhibitons include: John Giorno: a labor of LOVE, Milano Triennale, Milan (2025); VIVONO: Arts and feelings, HIV-AIDS in Italy, 1982-1996, Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy (2025); Summer, Almine Rech, Gstaad, Switzerland (2024); Todo se vuelve más ligero, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2023); Llámalo de otra manera/ Something Else Press and Intermedia (1963-1974), Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid (2023); The Modern Institute: Space Forgets You, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, UK (2022); From The Archives: White Columns & 112 Greene Street – 1970-2021, White Columns, NY (2021); Petits papiers du 20e siècle, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2021); Group Show, Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland (2020); You Got to Burn to Shine, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome (2019); Voyage d’hiver, curated by The Palais de Tokyo, the Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France (2017); Looking Back/The 10th White Columns Annual, White Columns, NY (2016); The Exhibition of a Film, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2015); Artists and Poets, Secession, Vienna (2015); 39 greatjones, Eva Presenhuber Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland (2013); Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language, MoMA, NY (2012); 15 Minutes: Homage to Andy Warhol, Pollock Krasner House & Study Center, East Hampton, NY (2011); Modern modern, Chelsea Art Museum, NY (2009); Traces du Sacré, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2008); Renegades: 25 Years of Performance at Exit Art, Exit Art, NY (2007); Multiple Strategies, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio (2004); Lowland Lullaby, SI Swiss Institute, NY (2002); Whatever Window Is Your Pleasure, George Mulder Fine Art, London (1988); Information, Museum of Modern Art, NY (1970); Software, The Jewish Museum, NY (1969), among others.
