Thursday Night Live Featuring Poetry Performance by John Giorno! Thursday,
February 7th beginning at 7:30 p.m.
A poetry performance by
internationally celebrated poet, AIDS activist and Warhol film star John Giorno.
Tickets are $20 and include access to the Warhol: Larger than Life exhibition.
Purchase tickets in advance at the MacKenzie Art Gallery Shop or by calling
584-4292.
An innovator in the art of poetry performance, John Giorno
elevated spoken work to a high art form. During his more then 50 year career,
his writing, performances, recordings, films and presentations have been a
revolution, changing the way the world views poetry.
His book You Got to
Burn to Shine contains poems and deeply personal memoirs, including the story of
his relationship with Andy Warhol, his experiences as a Tibetan Buddhist and his
understanding of death in the age of AIDS.
Giorno Poetry Systems, begun
in 1965, innovated the use of technology in poetry, working with electronic and
multi-media, creating new venues, and connecting poetry with new audiences. In
1968, Giorno created Dial-A-Poem, which was the first time the telephone was
used to communicate to mass audiences. Dial-A-Poem's enormous success gave rise
to the Dial-A-Something industry, from Dial-A-Joke to phone sex and 900 numbers.
John Giorno has lived for 45 years at 222 Bowery, New York, in three
lofts in a historic 1884 building. The building was the first Y.M.C.A and has
served as a living space for artists for many decades. William Burroughs' Bunker
is the former locker room, where he lived in the 70s and 80s, and which he
visited until his death in 1997.
For over 40 years, Giorno has been a
Buddhist meditation practitioner in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
His teacher is His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche. For 30 years, Giorno has hosted
many great Tibetan lamas when they visit New York.
The AIDS Treatment
Project, begun in 1984, is Giorno's attempt to combat the catastrophe of the
AIDS epidemic. They provide cash grants for emergency situations such as back
rent, telephone and utilities, food, nursing.... whatever is needed. All money
is given freely with love and compassion.
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