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Taylor Mead Audio from Readings in Contemporary Poetry

Dia:Chelsea, October 14, 2010

This audio was recorded at Dia:Chelsea on October 14, 2010 as part of Dia's Readings in Contemporary Poetry series. Taylor Mead and John Giorno read that evening.

Poet, performer, actor, and painter Taylor Mead was born in 1924, Grosse Point, Michigan. He has been defying the establishment for over half a century and remains one of the brightest stars of the American underground. A force within the Beat movements in both San Francisco and New York, he began writing and performing his particular brand of raunchy, irreverent, and often hilarious poetry in the early 1950s. Between 1963 and 1969, Mead starred in numerous Andy Warhol films, including Tarzan and Jane Regained … Sort Of (1963); Taylor Mead’s Ass (1964); The Nude Restaurant (1967); Imitation of Christ (1967); and Lonesome Cowboys (1969). He has appeared more recently in Rebecca Horn’s Buster’s Bedroom (1991), Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), and is the subject of William A. Kirkley’s documentary Excavating Taylor Mead (2005). Mead continues to publish poetry and performs weekly at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, captivating audiences with his wry, dramatically vivid comments on sex, death, genius, and his own unique celebrity.

To hear Vincent Katz's introduction to Taylor Mead, please click here.

Video: Taylor Mead and John Giorno Video from Readings in Contemporary Poetry, Video

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