When Art Dallied With Poetry

“Pyrography: Poem and Portrait of John Ashbery II,” a 1977 Larry Rivers portrait of the poet John Ashbery at Tibor de Nagy Gallery.



On J’s latest ad client outing, he had the chance to spend a few hours sleeping at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta, Georgia. They give out complementary newspapers there, so he asked for the New York Times (once a New Yorker, it stays in the blood). The WeekendArts section led with an article entitled When Art Dallied with Poetry on 53rd Street. Beautiful. He immediately sent it my way.

In 1950, a group of artists and poets started up a little gallery on 53rd Street, a few blocks away from the center of the New York art scene, and started doing something crazy––pairing poetry alongside artwork. Just to name drop for a sec, the Tibor de Nagy Gallery group consisted of a few artists who made a name for themselves: John Ashbury, Frank O’Hara, Grace Hartigan, Larry Rivers, Kenneth Koch, Barbara Guest, etc. But whether you’re impressed by the gallery’s lineup or not, the point is, if it worked once, why not make it work again? Maybe better.

Get inspired. Send us some art. Comment on some art. Be a part of Flying House.

Flying House is on pw.org

We've joined the Poets & Writers Directory. Check out our link to the left.

The Writing and Drawing Lab

Lauren Groff (who I love even though she doesn't know it...yet) has co-founded The Writing and Drawing Lab, and hopes to get it up and running this year. It looks like a great program, one up the Flying House alley, and we wish her all the luck in the world.

Goodreads

Flying House has joined Goodreads! Click on the link in our sidebar to see what we've been reading. Reviews to come.

House Talk Update

An insight: 7 Rings: An Artist's Game of Telephone

The Great Book Giveaway

I've always been a fan of The Guardian's online book link.

This may be because I'm enthralled with other writer's studio spaces and writing habits, and The Guardian just so happens to showcase a new writer each month.

It may also be because I happen to like a lot of English writers, having studied British Literature in college. Don't they just sound intelligent over there??

Anyway, I thought this was an interesting story on today's link, The Great Book Giveaway. On March 5, the UK's Canongate Press will be hosting a 1-million-book giveaway. What's interesting is the idea of "giveaway." When is free good, and when does free come at a price? Stayed tuned, as Robert McCrum plans on following up on his article.

Jon McGregor's top 10 dead bodies in literature

Ten stories twirling around the absence of a body.

The Novel Crisis

Cathy Day discusses the writing of BIG things, as opposed to the short story.

Waiting?

Still waiting to see your anthology and postcards? Not to worry, both are going out this week.

Moo-laa needed

Last year's Flying House gallery show and reading was funded with the help of Kickstarter.com. This year, we're going to need some new ideas on fundraising. Do you have any experience with grant writing? We'd love to here your advice. Please shoot us an email at TheFlyingHouseEmail@gmail.com

To see how our Kickstarter project went, go here.

Updates to Know About

We love how much interest we've received for next year's show, but you should know there are going to be a few changes.

First, the date of the show is changing. Hoping to skirt around bad weather and too-busy holiday schedules, the Flying House gallery and reading event will take place in early-to-mid October this year (exact date TBD).

This also means to be in next year's show you need to apply by April 25. So go get started compiling your work samples. We'll have an updated version of the application up on the website shortly.

The Show

We've finally got our photos up from the big show back in December. Check out our facebook page to have a look.

Under Construction

Here at Flying House we are starting the new year out... slowly. We have much to get caught up on, and we know we owe you a few things our dear (small) public. Just know we are on it--and Happy New Year!