Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles
October 25, 2025 - April 25, 2026
October 25, 2025 - April 25, 2026
The Marciano Art Foundation reopens its second floor Window Gallery with a solo exhibition of works by John Giorno titled No Nostalgia.
Known for taking poetry beyond the printed page into the realms of performance, sound installation and painting, Giorno once stated that he was “determined to make poetry a razor blade cutting through the ego of America's karma,” and he captured the humor and horror of daily life in lines at once erotic, tender, and sly.
Less known is Giorno’s painting practice, born from the same impulse to reach people within and beyond the museum. With language as his medium, he brought his ear for a sharp phrase into the art world, infusing it with a mix of gravity and levity. The works gathered here—text paintings, early prints, and rainbow canvases—form their own collective poem. They distill Giorno’s worldview: the delights of New York street life, Buddhist thought, and the raw immediacy of language. Like koans, they invite viewers to finish the thought, to carry the fragments into their own lives.
Known for taking poetry beyond the printed page into the realms of performance, sound installation and painting, Giorno once stated that he was “determined to make poetry a razor blade cutting through the ego of America's karma,” and he captured the humor and horror of daily life in lines at once erotic, tender, and sly.
Less known is Giorno’s painting practice, born from the same impulse to reach people within and beyond the museum. With language as his medium, he brought his ear for a sharp phrase into the art world, infusing it with a mix of gravity and levity. The works gathered here—text paintings, early prints, and rainbow canvases—form their own collective poem. They distill Giorno’s worldview: the delights of New York street life, Buddhist thought, and the raw immediacy of language. Like koans, they invite viewers to finish the thought, to carry the fragments into their own lives.
This exhibition also highlights Giorno’s archive, revealing his collaborative methods and the friendships that sustained him. Dial-A-Poem allows visitors to hear recordings by 132 poets, artists, musicians, and activists. And beyond art, the show reflects Giorno’s character, his moral courage. His Buddhist practice, rooted in compassion and clarity, shaped his response to the AIDS crisis: through his AIDS Treatment Project, he provided rent, food, and medicine for those abandoned by the US government.
John Giorno: No Nostalgia is curated by Marciano Art Foundation Director Hanneke Skerath and writer and critic Carlos Valladares.
Click here for more information.
John Giorno: No Nostalgia is curated by Marciano Art Foundation Director Hanneke Skerath and writer and critic Carlos Valladares.
Click here for more information.
