Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer
The Crocker Art Museum presents:
Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer
October 28, 2006 – January 7, 2007
In 1956, San Francisco publisher City Lights Books first printed Howl, Allen Ginsberg’s poem for a restless generation. Its release in print launched Ginsberg’s celebrity and brought national attention to the art and poetry being produced in the Bay Area during the 1950s. This literary movement was called Beat, simultaneously meaning Beatific, beat down and possessing the bold rhythms of jazz music. This irrepressible urge to experiment with traditional poetic form spread to the visual arts, inspiring artists to take risks and challenge accepted modes of painting and sculpture. What began in Northern California grew into a new, renegade creativity that defined American culture at mid-century.
The Crocker Art Museum presents the photography of American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in the exhibition Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer, marking the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking publication of Howl. During two extended periods, Ginsberg trained his eye through the camera lens onto the tightly connected group of writers and circle of close friends who came to personify the Beats. Their bohemian, even reckless lifestyles resulted in an ongoing American fascination with Ginsberg and his fellow writers and visionaries, who include Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, Peter Orlovsky and Timothy Leary, among others.
Forty-seven black-and-white photographs highlighting Ginsberg’s unique snapshot aesthetic are featured in this exhibition, drawn from the private Pennsylvania collection of David Sestak. Each photograph is accompanied by autobiographical commentary inscribed by Ginsberg, providing context for the images, yet also offering the chance to hear his spontaneous, poetic voice. Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer was organized by the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley from the David Sestak Family Collection.
Credit to Crocker Museum for this article.
In 1956, San Francisco publisher City Lights Books first printed Howl, Allen Ginsberg’s poem for a restless generation. Its release in print launched Ginsberg’s celebrity and brought national attention to the art and poetry being produced in the Bay Area during the 1950s. This literary movement was called Beat, simultaneously meaning Beatific, beat down and possessing the bold rhythms of jazz music. This irrepressible urge to experiment with traditional poetic form spread to the visual arts, inspiring artists to take risks and challenge accepted modes of painting and sculpture. What began in Northern California grew into a new, renegade creativity that defined American culture at mid-century.
The Crocker Art Museum presents the photography of American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in the exhibition Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer, marking the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking publication of Howl. During two extended periods, Ginsberg trained his eye through the camera lens onto the tightly connected group of writers and circle of close friends who came to personify the Beats. Their bohemian, even reckless lifestyles resulted in an ongoing American fascination with Ginsberg and his fellow writers and visionaries, who include Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, Peter Orlovsky and Timothy Leary, among others.
Forty-seven black-and-white photographs highlighting Ginsberg’s unique snapshot aesthetic are featured in this exhibition, drawn from the private Pennsylvania collection of David Sestak. Each photograph is accompanied by autobiographical commentary inscribed by Ginsberg, providing context for the images, yet also offering the chance to hear his spontaneous, poetic voice. Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer was organized by the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley from the David Sestak Family Collection.
Credit to Crocker Museum for this article.
The Ginsberg B& W Photography Exhibition at the Crocker Museum aroused so much feeling I wept looking at his handwritten notations made while he was writing “Howl.” This was the powerful poem that in the late 50's challenged obscenity law, forcing the court ruling that indeed it was not. While standing there and looking through the display glass at Ginsberg's poem, in my memory I heard the sensual and booming voice of a Bay Area poet reading "Howl" aloud to me - gave me shivers.
The power in Ginsberg's inscriptions written directly onto the photo, penned by his own hand - black ink on white paper - piled layer upon layer of meaning to this exhibit - it is about the words, the words, the words.
If you would like a few of Ginsberg's B & W postcards the museum store offers these at a modest price.
Seeing Kerouac in Ginsberg’s photos reminded to replace my lost copy of On The Road. On the road home I stopped into Beer's Books at 915 S Street, Sacramento and picked up a copy plus Dharma Bums. We are lucky to have access to so much here in Sacramento.
Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer is a must see!
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Victoria, The sunflowers are just amazing, the color, the energy sing a beautiful song. I adore the second picture which is amusing and full of your fun spirit. As always your art is inspiring and thought-provoking.Carole
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