CAPTION
Elizabeth Dee, New York
April 2 – May 9, 2015
Giorno’s explosive, visual and concrete works continue in a new series of rainbow paintings that occupy the front gallery. Works such as LIVING IN YOUR EYES, LIFE IS A KILLER, and I WANT TO CUM IN YOUR HEART coexist and resonate. The exhibit continues with two bodies of drawings, including THANX 4 NOTHING, GOD IS MANMADE, and IT’S WORSE THAN I THOUGHT. The devoted rooms to each series manifest the range and depth of Giorno’s creative production in painting, graphite, and watercolor. The pulsating delivery of Giorno’s reading style, with line breaks and repetition, dictate tempos within the exhibition and encourage reinvestigation of phrases.

Many of the texts employed in Giorno’s new works were originally sourced from poetry that the artist has written, or lines that never made themselves into a final poem. The clarity of the words’ visual impact hangs in the air and penetrates the mind. Giorno’s history with concrete poetry techniques date back to his first visual works in the late 1960s. The culmination of his practice today, can arguably be traced back to his first series, when Giorno was exploring the audio and visual perception of words on a field. This interest led to collaborations and sound recordings that further defined Giorno’s live performances.
Giorno’s work has grown in activity, scope, and scale in recent years. He has continued to connect with artists of various generations. He is an energetic collaborator with his peers, most notably Warhol (Giorno was featured in Sleep). Rirkrit Tiravanija and Pierre Huyghe have collaborated with Giorno. Most recently Ugo Rondinone is creating a restrospective of Giorno’s.

The experience of Giorno’s work is provocative in all its forms. Interestingly, the artist’s audience extends beyond the self-selecting demographics of poetry and language-based conceptual work. Giorno’s artistic contributions to various movements are equally significant. Resonating with common interests of appropriation, the cultural impact of media and advertising, as well as language via visual culture, one could argue his output of work in all forms is even more resonant in today’s culture.

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