John Giorno: No Nostalgia

John Giorno (1936–2019) was a poet, activist, painter, and fixture of the 1960s New York art and literary scenes. His practice fused spoken word, performance, sound installation, and visual art to democratize culture and reach people within and beyond institutional spaces. Best known as the sleeping subject of Andy Warhol's Sleep (1964), Giorno created the landmark Dial-A-Poem project (1968–), which transformed the telephone into a public portal for poetry accessible anytime, anywhere. His painting and text-based work emerged from the same impulse, infusing language and visual form with humor, eroticism, and Buddhist philosophy. Beyond art, Giorno's moral courage was evident in his AIDS Treatment Project, providing rent, food, and medicine to those abandoned by the US government during the crisis.

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On View

Opens

Oct 25

Closes

Jul 18

Days Left

#raw#political

drawingpaintingperformanceprintmaking

About

John Giorno: No Nostalgia presents text paintings, early prints, and rainbow canvases from the poet, activist, and painter's practice of bringing language into visual art. The exhibition traces Giorno's impulse to democratize art and reach audiences beyond the museum, from his landmark Dial-A-Poem project (1968–) to works distilling Buddhist thought, New York street life, and the raw immediacy of language. Archive materials and 24-hour access to 132 recorded poets, artists, and activists reveal his collaborative methods and moral vision.

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Marciano Art Foundation

4357 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles

marcianoartfoundation.org ↗