John Giorno

American, born 1936

Explore Selected Works

Allen Ginsberg, Julian Schnabel, George Condo, David Hockney, Wim Wenders, Ed Ruscha, Hiro Yamagata, William S. Burroughs, John Giorno, Steven Taylor, Raymond Foye, Richard Kaz, James Reid, Gemini G.E.L., The Ballad of the Skeletons, 1996, color screenprint on Rives BFK wove paper, Gift of Lee and Ann Fensterstock, 2000.177.22

The Ballad of the Skeletons

Allen Ginsberg, Julian Schnabel, George Condo, David Hockney, Wim Wenders, Ed Ruscha, Hiro Yamagata, William S. Burroughs, John Giorno, Steven Taylor, Raymond Foye, Richard Kaz, James Reid, Gemini G.E.L. · 1996 · color screenprint on Rives BFK wove paper ·  Accession ID  2000.177.22

Three monstrous faces with gaping jaws lined with sharp teeth are stacked in this vertical lithograph. The creatures are canary yellow shaded heavily with pale and grass green. The bottom face, which is the largest and closest to us, has beads of sweat running down each side of the furrowed forehead. This creature’s lips are pulled up into a cavernous smile, and liquid drips from the lower lip. A ruffle around the neck could be a collar, and the creature is flanked to each side by scale-patterned forms that could be the body of the creature behind. This middle creature’s pale blue eyes slope down, and the bottom corners of the open mouth pull down, too. This creature has horns and gill-like forms around the mouth. The third creature, at the top and farthest away, leans back with taloned hands reaching to each side. The drooping eyes appear to look up, and wings spread from the creature’s back. The background is sky blue dotted with white.
Les Gottesman, Simon Deitch, John Giorno, Greg Irons, John Brown, Dick Cogswell, Peter O'Keefe, Judy Grahn, Lewis Marsh, Anne Waldman, Tom Veitch, David Anderson, Britt Wilkie, Hilton Obenzinger, Alice Codrescu, Andrei Codrescu, Various Artists, Mitch Sisskind, George Schneeman, Ron Padgett, Downtown Peace Coalition, Tom Clark, Kenneth Greene, Charlie Vermont, Cynthia Meyer, Jon Meyer, Alan Senauke, Robert Crumb, Rory Hayes, Fits Collective, 7 Freds Press, Fits No. 1, 1971, paperback bound volume with half-tone and offset lithograph illustrations on wove paper, with cover in full color, Gift of William and Abigail Gerdts, 2014.126.53

Fits No. 1

Les Gottesman, Simon Deitch, John Giorno, Greg Irons, John Brown, Dick Cogswell, Peter O'Keefe, Judy Grahn, Lewis Marsh, Anne Waldman, Tom Veitch, David Anderson, Britt Wilkie, Hilton Obenzinger, Alice Codrescu, Andrei Codrescu, Various Artists, Mitch Sisskind, George Schneeman, Ron Padgett, Downtown Peace Coalition, Tom Clark, Kenneth Greene, Charlie Vermont, Cynthia Meyer, Jon Meyer, Alan Senauke, Robert Crumb, Rory Hayes, Fits Collective, 7 Freds Press · 1971 · paperback bound volume with half-tone and offset lithograph illustrations on wove paper, with cover in full color ·  Accession ID  2014.126.53

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Chinese Fortune Game from S.M.S. No. 6 (December 1968)

John Giorno, The Letter Edged in Black Press Inc. · 1968 · portfolio of mixed media art objects ·  Accession ID  1992.62.6.12.a-kk

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S.M.S. No. 6 (December 1968)

Various Artists, Dieter Roth, Ed Bereal, Claes Oldenburg, Ronoldo Ferri, Betty Dodson, Jean Reavey, Adrian Nutbeam, Mischa Petrov, Bernar Venet, John Giorno, Toby Mussman, Paul Steiner, The Letter Edged in Black Press Inc. · 1968 · portfolio of mixed media art objects ·  Accession ID  1992.62.6.1-12.a-d