Patti Smith and Me

I'm happy to say I got to meet Patti Smith at the Free Library in Philadelphia, on December 8, 2010. I had hoped to give her a photo silkscreen of Robert Mapplethorpe, an entire contact sheet I took in black and white back in 1985. I recently screened it with a layer of grey, and then black on top. She seemed happy to see the piece, and it was a pleasure to give it to her.

She read from her award winning book Just Kids, and was charming and funny. She sang a cappella, "Because The Night". The entire event can be heard at the Free Library of Philadelphia website, author events, and you can download the podcast.

It's the culmination of one year working with these negatives, which I am also making silkscreened portraits of, and Warhol influenced pieces. The next piece is a photo-silkscreen of an image of Allen Ginsberg I took back in l984. He is sitting on a floor, holding a camera. It's interesting that Patti Smith knew him well, so there is synchronicity in this work I have been doing.

Photograph courtesy of Christine Dreyfus