Frank O'Hara began working at the front desk of The Museum of Modern Art in order to see the exhibitions as often as possible. During his lunch breaks he wrote poetry, sometimes pausing mid-meal to pen his seemingly effortless, spontaneous verses, which were stitched together from the events and sentiments of his daily life. These writings made him into one of the most important American poets of his generation.
Eventually, he became an Associate Curator--even though he had no formal art training. Frank O'Hara: In Memory of My Feelings explores a key period in modern art, and highlights 30 artists who collaborated with O'Hara to produce "poem-paintings"--a single work of art paired with a single poem. The artists included Nell Blaine, Norman Bluhm, Joe Brainard, John Button, Giorgio Cavallon, Allan D'Arcangelo, Elaine de Kooning, Willem de Kooning, Niki de Saint Phalle, Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Michael Goldberg, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Al Held, Jasper Johns, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Alex Katz, Lee Krasner, Alfred Leslie, Roy Lichtenstein, Marisol, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Robert Nakian, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers and Jane Wilson.
After being published by MoMA in 1967 as a collection of slipcased sheets, the original art-literature pairings of In Memory of My Feelings were thought to be lost. Last year, the works were rediscovered in the museum's archives, and this bound version was planned to re-present a seminal document of the beauty of collaboration in the arts.
Frank O'Hara's poems are paired with a work by each of the following artists: Nell Blaine, Norman Bluhm, Joe Brainard, John Button, Giorgio Cavallon, Allan D'Arcangelo, Elaine de Kooning, Willem de Kooning, Niki de Saint Phalle, Helen Frankenthaler, Jane Freilicher, Michael Goldberg, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, Al Held, Jasper Johns, Matsumi Kanemitsu, Alex Katz, Lee Krasner, Alfred Leslie, Roy Lichtenstein, Marisol, Joan Mitchell, Robert Motherwell, Robert Nakian, Barnett Newman, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Larry Rivers and Jane Wilson.
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