Organized by Paolo Javier, Queens poet laureate

The influence of avant-garde poetry runs throughout the art of Joseph Cornell (1903–72), the reclusive genius who spent most of his life in a small home on Utopia Parkway in Flushing, Queens. In this unique event, contemporary poets and filmmakers will share new work inspired by Cornell’s surrealist assemblages and films. There will be readings by poet-scholars Alan Ramón Clinton and Elizabeth Willis; a collaborative film narration by Flushing-based poet and filmmaker Stephanie Gray and Queens poet laureate Paolo Javier; a joint performance by poet and professor Lee Ann Brown and poet-artist Julie Patton; and recent work by experimental filmmaker Mark Street. Sixteen-millimeter presentations of key films by Cornell, including Rose Hobart (1936, 17 mins.), A Legend for Fountains (1957–1965, 19 mins.), Angel (1957, 3 mins.), and Centuries of June (1955, 11 mins. Co-directed with Stan Brakhage) will be interspersed throughout the evening.