Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: A key figure in the New York School of Poetry, John Ashbery is hailed as one of the most influential contemporary American poets.In 2018, he presented his final poetry collection They Knew What They Wanted to his devoted readers.Despite Ashbery's sixdecade-long career in poetry, these poems fall short of expectations.In contrast, the collages in this collection offer a unique glimpse into his creative process, mixing art, popular culture, and personal experiences.Through this visual medium, Ashbery explores themes of identity, sexuality, and social norms in ways that enhance and broaden his written work, allowing him to express ideas and feelings that might be harder to convey through words alone.In his poetry, Ashbery addresses homosexuality indirectly, always through a separate voice.Many collages in They Knew What They Wanted are openly homoerotic, even pornographic, providing a gay subtext to his poems.They encourage viewers to engage with the artwork on multiple levels, promoting a deeper understanding of Ashbery's complex artistic vision.This analysis aims to situate Ashbery's gay-themed poems and collages in They Knew What They
Author: Hartmut Heep
Institution: Pennsylvania State University
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4414471186
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