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.

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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.

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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.

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