John Giorno was a poet, performer, visual artist, practicing Buddhist in the Tibetan Nyingma lineage, and founder of the non-profit and media label Giorno Poetry Systems.
By 1963, he had established himself as an active presence in New York’s art scene, lauded for his starring role in Andy Warhol’s eight-hour film Sleep. Other collaborations followed: with Brion Gysin on Subway Sound in 1965, Robert Rauschenberg at 9 Evenings of Theater & Engineering in 1966, and Bob Moog on Giorno’s “electronic sensory poetry environments” of 1967–1969. He originated Dial- A-Poem at The Architectural League of New York in 1968, which was subsequently included in the group exhibition Information at the Museum of Modern Art in 1969-70. It is still re-created around the world today.
Giorno retired from performing in 2017 and spent the last two years of his life in meditation, artmaking, writing poetry, and working out final edits of his memoir, Great Demon Kings. His iconic poem prints, paintings, prints, and drawings continue to show in museums and galleries around the world. Giorno passed away in 2019 in his native New York.