The Poetic Line – Ama Codjoe at the Guggenheim

I am so excited to have been invited by Ama Codjoe, the 2023 Poet-in-Residence at the Guggenheim Museum, to contribute a broadside for the August series of events, The Poetic Line. I got to work with four brilliant tankas by Harryette Mullen, to create the broadside below, printed by Lucky Risograph. Read more about the events below, check out the calendar – there is one more happening August 19th – and other events to follow in the fall.

I had a lot of help making this (when it turned out to be a lot of work to cut out hundreds of “e” and “o” letters from the typewritten poems to make the skins of the fruits, and my drawing skills proved to still be limited to anything not requiring contours): many thanks to the inestimable Yoko Akama, Isabella Brandalise, and Kerry MacNeil for scissor-work and stunt-drawing of leaves and pith.

From the Guggenheim:

The Poetic Line

The Poetic Line transforms the museum’s queue into a moment of social engagement, artful pause, and sensory delight. On August 5, 12, and 19, people waiting in line ahead of Pay-What-You-Wish hours are invited to engage with a poem through sensory experiences such as sound, taste, touch, and sight. Each week will feature a different poetic verse selected by Ama Codjoe, creating new sensory environments for the museum’s visitors. Weekly activations will include one-of-a-kind artist-designed broadsides, curated soundscapes, a live poetry reading, and interactive performances.

2023 Poet-in-Residence: Ama Codjoe

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is pleased to welcome Ama Codjoe as the Poet-in-Residence for 2023. Codjoe was selected as poet-in-residence through an open call organized in collaboration with the Academy of American Poets by a panel comprising Jen Bervin, award-winning poet and visual artist; Terrance Hayes, National Book Award-winning poet and 2014 MacArthur Fellow; Tyehimba Jess, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet; Nikay Paredes, Programs Director at the Academy of American Poets; and Alan Seise, Manager, Public Programs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Codjoe will structure a series of happenings, readings, and interventions under the framework “I Feel Therefore I Can Be Free,” a quote from Audre Lorde’s 1977 essay “Poetry Is Not a Luxury,” that explores how sensuality, caesura, and care are integral materials of written, visual, and time-based arts.

Programs will be announced here and on the calendar throughout the year.