I ♥︎ John Giorno 
Artist Space • High Line Art • Howl! Happening • Hunter College Art Galleries • The Kitchen  • New Museum • Red Bull Arts New York • Rubin Museum of Art • Sky Art • Swiss Institute • White Columns • 80WSE Gallery

June - October, 2017 

Ugo Rondinone: I ♥︎ John Giorno, is a sprawling, multi-part exhibition that presents the extraordinary life and work of the poet, artist, activist and muse, John Giorno. Encompassing thirteen venues around Manhattan and featuring paintings, films, sound installations, drawings, archival presentations and a video environment, this retrospective includes work both by Giorno himself, as well as work that he has inspired. 

I ♥︎ John Giorno is also a work of art by Giorno’s husband, the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, who has been creating sculptures, paintings, drawings and multi-media installations for almost three decades. With this project, Rondinone presents a prismatic portrait assembled from thoughtful arrangements of the materials, experiences and relationships that have defined Giorno’s astonishingly wide-ranging artistic career. Foremost, though, the project is a joyous celebration of Giorno’s ubiquitous presence in contemporary culture, as well as his myriad contributions to it. 

Rondinone’s homage to his life partner, Ugo Rondinone: I ♥︎ John Giorno, is the latest, and by far, the most ambitious collaboration of Giorno’s career. The project unfolds in eighteen chapters, each a distinct exhibition sited in a non-profit or alternative space in Manhattan. Every chapter takes the form of an immersive installation designed by Rondinone and dedicated to a body of work, an interest, a relationship or a collaboration that has marked Giorno’s life. This includes his poetry, painting, sound work and performance; his recording projects, and his founding of Giorno Poetry Systems; his AIDS activism; his Tibetan Buddhism and his vast personal archive that comprises a history of radical art and poetry in New York during the second half of the twentieth century. Several installations feature portraits of Giorno by different generations of filmmakers, painters, videographers and musicians. One consists of a single work; a multi-channel video installation by Rondinone consisting of multiple images of Giorno performing one of his recent epic poems. 

More information on this multi-part exhibition here.

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at the Rubin Museum of Art

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at Sky Art

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at Red Bull Arts New York

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at Swiss Institute

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at Hunter College Art Galleries

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at 80WSE Gallery

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at High Line Art

I ♥︎ John Giorno installation at the New Museum