John Giorno

John Giorno (1936–2019) was an American poet, performance artist, and visual artist who pioneered the intersection of poetry, visual art, and technology, most notably founding Dial-A-Poem in 1968. Closely associated with the New York avant-garde scene, he was a close friend and collaborator of Andy Warhol—famously the subject of Warhol's film 'Sleep' (1963)—and worked alongside figures such as William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin. His text-based works, which transformed poetry into bold visual statements, became increasingly prominent in the art market in his later years.