An ambitious citywide festival celebrating the life and work of the poet and artist John Giorno, part of the Beat Generation of writers who collaborated with artists such as Andy Warhol, is due to launch on 21 June across New York. The 13-venue project, marking Giorno’s 80th birthday, is organised by his husband, the Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone. The New Museum, Rubin Museum of Art and Swiss Institute are among the venues participating in Ugo Rondinone: I ♥ John Giorno. Portraits of Giorno by Elizabeth Peyton and Verne Dawson will go on show at White Columns as part of the project while Rirkrit Tiravanija’s JG Reads (2008), a film of Giorno performing his poems, will be presented at The Kitchen space. “I ♥ John Giorno is a kaleidoscopic exhibition about the life and work of US poet and Tibetan Buddhist John Giorno whose rich and stimulating life has woven many threads of American culture and spirituality,” Rondinone says in a statement.