Partner Kenward Elmslie
Queer Places:
Dayton Art Institute, 456 Belmonte Park N, Dayton, OH 45405, Stati Uniti
8 Greene St, New York, NY 10013
Poet's Corner, Calais, VT 05648, Stati Uniti
Joe
Brainard (March 11, 1942 – May 25, 1994) was an American artist and writer
associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of
work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs
for book and album covers, theatrical sets and costumes. In particular,
Brainard broke new ground in using comics as a poetic medium in his
collaborations with other New York School poets. He is best known for his
memoir I Remember, of which Paul Auster said: “It is . . . one of the
few totally original books I have ever read.”[1]
Joe Brainard was born March 11, 1942, in Salem, Arkansas, and spent his
childhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is the brother of painter John Brainard.
Brainard became friends with Ron Padgett, Dick Gallup, and Ted Berrigan
during high school while working on the literary journal The White Dove
Review, which was printed five times during 1959/1960. The 18-year-old
Brainard joined the journal as its art editor after fellow Central High
classmate Padgett sent Brainard an anonymous Christmas card praising his work.
After high school, the artist re-united with the White Dove boys in
New York City shortly after leaving the Dayton Art Institute.[2][3]
By 1964, Brainard had already had his first solo
exhibition and was ensconced in a circle of friends that included
Frank O'Hara, Kenneth
Koch, Alex Katz, Edwin Denby,
Larry Rivers, Fairfield
Porter, James Schuyler,
Jane Freilicher, Virgil
Thomson, John Ashbery,
among many others. He also began a relationship with
Kenward Elmslie
which lasted much of his life, despite having other lovers. He found much
success as an artist, until he removed himself from the art-world in the early
1980s. He devoted the last years of his life to reading.
Brainard died of AIDS-induced pneumonia May 25, 1994.
Photo by
Robert Giard, Rights Notice: Copyright Jonathan G. Silin (jsilin@optonline.net)
JOE BRAINARD and FRANK O'HARA
I"m Not Really Flying, I'm Thinking
1964
collage and ink on paper
10 x 8 inches
Collection Bill Berkson and Connie Lewallen, San Francisco
JOE BRAINARD
(Untitled (Rain)
Illustration for "The Vermont Notebook" by John Ashbery
c.1964
ink on paper
9 x 6 inches
JOE BRAINARD and FRANK O'HARA
I Grew This Mustache...
1964
collage and ink on paper
12 x 9 3/4 inches
Collection Bill Berkson and Connie Lewallen, San Francisco
Poets Dressed and Undressed, two panels portraying Joe Brainard, Frank O'Hara, Joe LeSueur and Frank Lima,
by Wynn Chamberlain
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