21 The temple

18 color silkscreens, 1 black and white silkscreen

Welcoming the Flowers is a set of 18 silkscreens derived from the eponymous poem. The declarative phrases that compose each of them are precisely and identically laid out, in columns across multiple lines, justified right and left, similar to newspaper headlines. The words vary in size and color, vibrant or pastel, to emphasize certain ones. Some leap into view, while others require particular attention. John Giorno explores poetry through visual arts. "When you interpret them, you see which lines light up the audience. And then you say to yourself, 'Oh, that, that would work in a painting.'" These poems act as "visual megaphones." John Giorno painted his first Poem Painting in 1968. Brightly colored or rendered in watercolor, these visual poems appear staged like slogans, delivering the artist's declamatory voice.