“John Giorno: a labour of LOVE” at Triennale di Milano

The exhibition explores various different forms of friendship, interaction and support within the world of culture through materials drawn from the extensive archives of the American artist John Giorno (1936-2019). A poet who had a profound impact and a performer with an imposing dramatic presence, Giorno spanned sixty years of history and culture—from the Beat Generation to AIDS activism, taking in Andy Warhol’s Factory and Robert Rauschenberg’s Experiments in Art and Technology—leaving his own mark each time and elevating the spoken word into an art form.

Inspired by among friends, the curatorial theme for the 29th edition of miart, the international modern and contemporary art fair organized by Fiera Milano, the exhibition brings together a selection of about 100 documents made available by Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS), the no-profit organization founded by Giorno in 1965 to support artists, poets and musicians, that now supervises the artist’s legacy and his extensive archives. The documents reveal traces of Giorno’s many friendships and collaborations with some of the most significant figures in the world of 20th century art, literature and music: William S. Burroughs, John Cage, Allen Ginsberg, Keith Haring, Allan Kaprow, Jasper Johns, Patti Smith and Michael Stipe, to mention just a few, as well as Rauschenberg and Warhol referred to above.

In Cuore—the Research, study and archives center at Triennale Milano—visitors will be able to view first editions of Giorno’s volumes of poetry, LPs released under the GPS Records label, and previously unexhibited documents concerning Giorno’s relationship with Rauschenberg and many other friends and colleagues. There will also be a range of posters, private correspondence, contracts, archive film clips and original leaflets regarding public events involving poetry, the AIDS Treatment Project and other experiences from the 1960s and ‘70s.

The selection also includes Dial-A-Poem, the iconic and interactive work through which the artist made the voices of poets, artists and musicians reading their poems available through the telephone line for the first time. Originally launched in 1968 and now in the MoMA permanent collection in New York, Dial-A-Poem evolved and expanded over time, and includes hundreds of recordings that visitors can listen to by just picking up a telephone receiver that is accessible to all.

at Triennale di Milano
until April 13, 2025