The life of John Giorno (1936–2019) began, unfolded, and ended in New York City. Throughout his life, Giorno was a key figure in the New York art scene, but he was also a witness to historical moments that influenced his work. An artist, poet, and activist, John left a profound mark on the art world by blurring the boundaries between poetry, the visual arts, music, and performance.
Although his artistic practice began with words, his poems came to life and transformed into images and music, taking over public spaces. “I wanted to do more than just write poems. I wanted to expand the ways in which poets could connect with the public,” John Giorno said at the time. For the artist, poetry was never confined to the page, and that is the premise of the exhibition “John Giorno: LIFE IS A KILLER”.
A Visual Language
The artist’s first solo exhibition in Mexico City is presented by the Kurimanzutto gallery in collaboration with Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS) and brings together paintings, works on paper, sound, film, performance, and archival material that allow visitors to delve into more than five decades of Giorno’s practice.
Poem Paintings is a series of canvases and murals that Giorno began in the late 1980s and which form the centerpiece of the exhibition. The works transform the artist’s characteristic two-column layout, reflecting the echoes and overlapping voices of his performancesand recordings through repetition across the width and length of the page.
In the center of the gallery is a microphone suspended above a raised platform, surrounded by an installation—designed in collaboration with artist Rirkrit Tiravanija—consisting of four turntables playing vinyl records released by Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS), Giorno’s nonprofit organization. Among the recordings are *The Dial-A-Poem Poets: Totally Corrupt* from 1973, *Big Ego* from 1978, and *Life Is a Killer* from 1982. This installation invites visitors to select and play the records themselves, allowing up to four recordings to play simultaneously, causing the voices to overlap and constantly transform the gallery’s soundscape.
The exhibition also features a selection of silkscreen prints from the late 1960s and early 1970s based on newspaper headlines, magazine articles, advertisements, and texts by Giorno himself. The exhibition, whose title comes from one of John’s most iconic poetic phrases, reflects his vision of poetry as a living concept that, in turn, takes on new meaning each time it is reinvented through an encounter with another medium or another voice.
A Glimpse into the World of John Giorno
Rirkrit Tiravanija’s“untitled 2008 (john giorno reads)” is on view in the gallery’s project room. The film was shot in 2008 over the course of several days at the artist’s home at 222 Bowery in New York. The 10-hour film follows the artist as he recites poems, shares music, and recounts anecdotes.
This film reflects Tiravanija’s desire to capture Giorno’s energy and vitality, as well as the friendship and creative dialogue between the two artists. It also offers visitors an intimate glimpse into the places where John Giorno lived, worked, and created his art.
What You Need to Know About“John Giorno: LIFE IS A KILLER”
The exhibition opened to the public on August 29 and will run through October 10, 2026. Beyond introducing Giorno’s work to the Mexican public, the exhibition seeks to build new bridges between his work and the city’s major literary, artistic, and cultural communities, reaffirming the tradition of experimentation, collective practice, and intercultural exchange that both the Mexican gallery and John share.
Kurimanzutto is located at 94 Gob. Rafael Rebollar, Colonia San Miguel Chapultepec, in Mexico City, and is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Who is John Giorno?
John Giorno was born in New York and lived there his entire life, becoming a central figure in the postwar art and literary scene alongside poets Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, and artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. In 1963, Warhol cast Giorno as the protagonist of his iconic film *Sleep*, marking the beginning of a personal and artistic relationship between the two.
Throughout his career, John Giorno challenged conventional divisions between artistic disciplines and took poetry beyond the printed page. His work was deeply intertwined with political activism, ranging from LGBTQ+ visibility and HIV/AIDS awareness to anti-war movements.
In 1965, Giorno founded Giorno Poetry Systems (GPS), the nonprofit organization that continues to preserve and promote his legacy. Four years later, he launched Dial-A-Poem, a public art project that allowed hundreds of people to access poetry over the phone.
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