WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›John Giorno

John Giorno

American, 1936

WA-00027281

New York, NY, USA

PrintmakingPerformance ArtContemporary

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ642513

MoMA

Field Verification (4 fields)

4 cross-verified · 0 single-source

BiographyMoMA· 93%✓
Birth yearMoMA· 93%✓
LocationMoMA· 93%✓
NationalityMoMA· 93%✓

Source Registry (1)

MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2171
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

John Giorno was an American poet and performance artist who pioneered sound poetry and multimedia performance in the 1960s and 1970s. Working with tape loops, his own voice, and collaborations with musicians and visual artists, he created immersive audio-visual works that challenged the boundary between poetry, music, and art. His practice extended into activism, particularly around AIDS awareness and LGBTQ+ rights. Giorno's poetic voice and experimental approach to language as material remain influential in contemporary performance and sound art.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 1mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Performance Art

Medium

Printmaking

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Cleveland Museum of ArtCleveland Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of ChicagoChicago

Canonical record

Artworks (9)

You're the Guy I Want to Share My Money With,

1981 · Two 12-inch vinyl records

cover: 12 3/8 × 12 3/8" (31.4 × 31.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

John Giorno & Anne Waldman

1977 · Two 12-inch vinyl records

cover: 12 3/8 × 12 3/8" (31.4 × 31.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

A Youth Winces in Pain, from On the Bowery

1971 · Screenprint in color on white wove card

Sheet: 65 × 65 cm (25 5/8 × 25 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Archive of Dial-A-Poem

1968 · Original answering machine, telephone, reel-to-reel tape recorders, microphone, and printed and handwritten ephemera

Dimensions variable

Museum of Modern Art

Dial-A-Poem

1968 · Recordings of 200 poems by 80 poets, four telephones; original answering machine, telephone, reel-to-reel tape recorders, and microphone; printed and handwritten ephemera

1968 · Digital recordings of 200 poems by 79 poets, four modified telephones

Dimensions variable

Museum of Modern Art

Chinese Fortune Game from S.M.S. No. 6

1968 · Multiple of thirty-six playing cards and instruction booklet

Folder: 10 x 5 15/16 x 1/4" (25.5 x 15.1 x 0.7 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

S.M.S. No. 6

1968 · Journal with thirteen special edition projects

1968 · Three sets of silkscreened game cards based on a Chinese restaurant menu, slotted trays, and instructions in black portfolio case

Cleveland Museum of Art

View all 9 artworks →

Artwork sources (3)

9 published of 15 catalogued · 10 with image

MoMA
7 publishedof 13 catalogued9 img
Art Institute Chicago
1 published1 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 1)

1 entries · 1 sources

Chinese Fortune Game
1968 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Movements2

Performance Art Contemporary

Collections5

Cleveland Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago Artsy Kunsthalle Basel

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

In collection

Kunsthalle Basel

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Auction house

Artsy

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Exhibition Dial-A-Poem

2026