Jean-Jacques Lebel (born 1936) is a French filmmaker, as well as an artist, poet, translator, poetry publisher, political activist, art collector, and art historian, who worked closely with the artists of the Beat Generation. Lebel, co-founder and first President of Polyphonix, an international festival in Paris, France of sound poetry, performance, video, and various music, became lifelong friends and collaborators with John Giorno through the festival beginning in 1981.

Sara Cwynar’s six channel film, Glass Life (2021), a meditation on the relationship between images and the self will be screened with her films Rose Gold (2017) and Red Film (2018), precursors to Glass Life, for the first time together. Stuart Comer, The Lonti Ebers Chief Curator of Media, and Performance at MoMA will moderate a discussion with Cynwar after the screening. Sara Cwynar’s films and photography have been described as building on the legacy of the 1980s Pictures Generation. The artist is interested in how design and popular images work on our psyches, in how visual strategies infiltrate our consciousness. She considers how familiar, often sentimental images smooth over unpleasant realities, to cover up “the systems of control embedded within our social, economic, and political lives.”

A focus on the artist Joe Brainard continues with two film screenings at The Bunker. Filmmaker Matt Wolf’s film I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard (2012) combines audio recordings of Brainard reading from the poem, as well as an interview with his lifelong friend and collaborator, the poet Ron Padgett. I Remember (1999), Avi Zev Weider & David Chartier’s film starring John Cameron Mitchell and Liam Aiken adapted from Brainard’s book, explores the concept of memory.

John Yau, art critic and poet, in conversation with Barry Schwabsky, art critic at large, will discuss Yau’s newly published book titled Joe Brainard: The Art of the Personal. Known for his internationally popular memoir, I Remember, Joe Brainard (1942–94) was also a prolific visual artist. In his book, Yau describes how Brainard transformed the ordinary into the beautiful, producing thousands of multimedia pieces that express Brainard’s affection for the world. John Giorno and Joe Brainard were friends, fellow poets and visual artists who collaborated on art projects and corresponded frequently, exchanging ideas and artworks with one another. Brainard is included with an excerpt of I Remember in the original recording of The Dial-A-Poem Poets album recorded and printed in 1972. 

No Land, poet & artist, will perform her poem works accompanied by ethereal sonic contributions from musicians Bentley Anderson & Daniel Carter. No Land's cine-poems will simultaneously illuminate The Bunker, including Monastic Night (Poet's Temple) and the premiere of a new cinema piece featuring Anne Waldman entitled Mercy-Eyed. No Land's work continues the lineage of downtown NYC artist counterculture. Her practice evokes reverence for mystery and delicate chaos in the forms of her films & poet-performances with musicians. She has been guided by encounters with downtown artists & poets, including Anne Waldman's embrace of the “outrider” tradition within the poetry world.  

Karen Finley presents a reading and performance of work-in-progress, with a conversation following moderated by Kyle Dacuyan, Executive Director of The Poetry Project.

This event is postponed until further notice. Justin Hicks, multidisciplinary artist, composer, and vocalist will perform a piece especially selected for The Bunker.  Kyle Dacuyan, poet, performer, and Executive Director of The Poetry Project, will discuss Hick’s inspiration for the performance and his diverse practice.

The 90-minute documentary includes performances by a diverse range of poets—many of whom appeared on Giorno’s Dial-A-Poem—including Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Diane DiPrima, Amiri Baraka, William Burroughs, Jayne Cortez, and Giorno himself.

In this talk, Donahue and Madey will discuss Feinstein’s interest in language, the development of her diverse non-style, and the importance of concepts like irony, authorship, and cultural production.  

The Bunker is pleased to present a double feature of Andrew Meyer's Match Girl (1966) and Jonas Mekas' Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol (1982).

Deadlines and Divine Distractions is an ongoing epistolary project co-edited by Negar Azimi, writer, and Editor-in-Chief of Bidoun, and Pati Hertling, Deputy Director of Performance Space New York. In the spirit of John Giorno’s practice of working collaboratively with artists throughout his career, The John Giorno Foundation is pleased to host Deadlines and Divine Distractions latest project at The Bunker. 

The Bunker is pleased to present the legendary underground film Flaming Creatures (1963) directed by Jack Smith and Jack Smith's Apartment (1990) by MM Serra.

Drew Sawyer, Phillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Curator at the Brooklyn Museum, will discuss the work of Jimmy DeSana (1949-1990) with Jarrett Earnest, curator and writer.

In honor of Burroughs’ legacy at The Bunker and 222 Bowery, and as an important contributor and collaborator of Giorno Poetry Systems, we are pleased to announce the screening of the film Burroughs: The Movie (1983) directed by the late Howard Brookner. 

Ebony L. Haynes, Director of 52 Walker, will host a discussion with Ford, taylor, and Turato on how these artists use text in their performances and paintings to mirror social and political issues respective to their generation.

The John Giorno Foundation is pleased to announce its inaugural season of programming at The Bunker located at 222 Bowery. The Bunker’s program furthers The John Giorno Foundation’s mission of supporting living artists and the history of the avant-garde and queer communities in New York. Reflecting John Giorno’s ethos, activism, and artistic achievements, the program will present a diverse array of artist talks, film series, and performance.  The Bunker provides a collaborative place for artists of all generations to meet.

Fundación Casa Wabi and the John Giorno Foundation present Dial-A-Poem Mexico, the first two-part posthumous edition of John Giorno's iconic public poetry service. It will be available to callers in Mexico free of charge starting on February 10, 2022.

Almine Rech London, in collaboration with the John Giorno Foundation, is pleased to announce a solo exhibition by John Giorno, marking the artist’s first posthumous solo show in the UK. The exhibition will open on October 12 and run through November 13, 2021 with an opening reception on October 12 from 5pm to 8pm. 

On the occasion of John Giorno's solo exhibition at Almine Rech London, Dial-A-Poem launched in the UK for the first time on October 12. Access to the audio work first produced in 1968 is now available free of charge to local callers at +44 (0)20-4538-8429.

The John Giorno Foundation is thrilled to announce that John Giorno’s memoir, Great Demon Kings, has won a 2021 American Book Award. Award winners will be formally recognized on Sunday, September 19, 2021, from 2:00–4:00 p.m., online.

The John Giorno Foundation announces their official Dial-A-Poem telephone line, available to callers on a local New York City number at +1 (917) 994-8949. Replicating many of the earliest Dial-A-Poem recordings and including later additions from the Giorno Poetry Systems record label, this collection of 286 recordings by 130 poets was hand-selected by Giorno himself in 2019 for what would become the final iteration of the analog telephone artwork. The selection of recordings celebrates the artistic, literary, political, and musical cultures with which Giorno was in dialogue from the mid-1960s onward, and includes work by titans of the performance poetry and spoken word worlds as Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Penny Arcade, Amiri Baraka, William S. Burroughs, Diane Di Prima, Diamanda Galas, Allen Ginsberg, Bernard Heidsieck, Lydia Lunch, Meredith Monk, Psychic TV, Patti Smith, Anne Waldman, Giorno, and over 100 more.

Two of John Giorno's stone poems are now on display for LongHouse Reserve's Rites of Spring Spring 2021 season opening April 17, 2021, alongside new artworks by Daniel Arsham, Beverly Pepper, and Prune Nourry.

The first posthumous presentation of John Giorno's work, John Giorno, is on display at Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York, 25 March – 28 May 2021.