Valery Oisteanu ( ro, Valeriu Oișteanu; ; born September 3, 1943) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

-born

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

poet, art critic, essayist, photographer and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

ist, whose style reflects the influence of

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

and

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

. Oisteanu is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, a book of short fiction, and a book of essays. More about his creativity & writing at his website:https://www.zen-dada.com He is the brother of Romanian historian of religion, cultural anthropologist and writer

Andrei Oișteanu Andrei Oișteanu (; born September 18, 1948) is a Romanian historian of religions and mentalities, ethnologist, cultural anthropologist, literary critic and novelist. Specialized in the history of religions and mentalities, he is also noted for h ...

Biography

Oisteanu was born in

Karaganda Karaganda or Qaraghandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandy, ; russian: Караганда, ) is the capital of Karaganda Region in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, fourth most populous city in Kaza ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, raised and educated in Romania, where he was known as Valeriu Oișteanu (). He graduated from the Department of Chemical Industry of the Politechnical Institute in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. In 1970, Oisteanu made his literary debut in Romania with a collection of poems called ''Proteze''. Due to his

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ancestry, the C ommunist regime allowed him to emigrate to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1972 or 1973, and he has been writing in English ever since. Oisteanu adopted

and

as a philosophy of art and life. He appears regularly at poetry readings in various New York venues, where he presents original performances of

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

and Dada-inspired " jazzoetry". He is a freelance art critic and on the permanent staff of several arts magazines, including ''

The Brooklyn Rail ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics. The ''Rail'' is based out of Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, criti ...

'', ''NYArts'', ''Rain Taxi'', the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

publication ''art.es'', and the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

magazine ''D'Art International''. Oișteanu is a member of Poets and Writers Inc. in New York and the founder and president of PASS: Poets and Artists Surrealist Society.

Poetry written in English

*''Underground Shadows'' (Pass Press, New York, 1977) *''Underwater Temples'' (Pass Press, New York, 1979) *''Do Not Defuse'' (Pass Press, New York, 1980) *''Vis-a-vis Bali'' (poems and photographic collage; New Observation Press, New York, 1985) *''Passport to Eternal Life'' (Pass Press, New York, 1990) *''Moons of Venus'' (Pass Press, New York, 1992) *''Temporary Immortality'' (Pass Press, New York, 1995) *''ZEN DADA'' (Linear Art Press, New York, 1999) *''Perks in Purgatory'' (Fly by Night Press,New York, 2009) *Anarchy for a Rainy Day (Spuyten Duyvil, New York, 2015) *Lighter Than Air (Spuyten Duyvil, New York, 2017) *In the Blink of a Third Eye(Spuyten Duyvil, New York, 2020) ''Poetry written or translated to Romanian:'' *''Proteze'' ("Prosthesis"), Editura Litera, Bucharest, 1970 *''Poeme din Exil'' ("Poems from Exile"), Editura Paralela 45, Pitești, 2000 * "Anarhie pentru Zile Negre"(Anarchy for a Rainy Day) CDPL,Bucharest,2019 * Privileges in Purgatory (Translated to Romanian) Itaca,Dublin,2020

Prose written in English

*''The King of Penguins'' (Linear Arts Books, New York, 2000)

References

External links

"The Drum Circle for Janine Pommy Vega"
– this tribute to

Janine Pommy Vega Janine Pommy Vega (February 5, 1942 – December 23, 2010) was an United States poetry, American poet associated with the Beat generation, Beats. Early life Janine Pommy was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.Hunt, Ken (February 22, 2011)"Obituary ...

(1942–2010) on

Pierre Joris Pierre Joris (born July 14, 1946) is a Luxembourg-American poet, essayist, translator, and anthologist. He has moved between Europe, North Africa & the US for 55 years, publishing over 80 books of poetry, essays, translations & anthologies — mo ...

's blog includes this homage-poem written by Oişteanu in honor of Pommy-Vega
"The Life and Death of John Badum" & "Lorenzo Perrone — The Righteous Gentile"
– these 2 "stories" by Oisteanu are about two true life figures: fashion designer John Badum, who was murdered in May 1999; and Lorenzo Perrone, friend and "guardian angel" to the world famous writer and Holocaust survivor

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

*, ''Meditation/Mediation'' is described as "an ongoing project conceived by Daniel Rothbart in collaboration with Valery Oisteanu. Curated by Lisa Paul Streitfeld, The Lab Gallery, New York, NY, April 24, 2005"
At The Caves of the Wind: Cretan Meditations
– an "essay-meditation" about

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

which Oisteanu first visited in July, 1977
Vispo Collage from Valery Oişteanu
– some poetry-collages (or

visual poetry Literary theorists have identified visual poetry as a development of concrete poetry but with the characteristics of intermedia in which non-representational language and visual elements predominate. Differentiation from concrete poetry As the li ...

) by Oisteanu
MARCEL BROODTHAERS, The Living Mirror
– Oisteanu writes about

Marcel Broodthaers Marcel Broodthaers (28 January 1924 – 28 January 1976) was a Belgian poet, filmmaker, and visual artist with a highly literate and often witty approach to creating art works. In 1943-1951 he was a member of a Communist party. Life and career ...

for

, published in October 2010
Where have the Real Famous gone? to Andy Warhol
– a poem by Oisteanu {{DEFAULTSORT:Oisteanu, Valery 1943 births 20th-century Romanian photographers American art critics American essayists American male essayists American male poets American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American performance artists American photographers American spoken word poets Jewish American writers Jewish Romanian writers Living people Neo-Dada People from Karaganda Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni Romanian art critics Romanian collage artists Romanian emigrants to the United States Romanian essayists Romanian male writers Romanian performance artists Romanian poets Romanian photographers Romanian surrealist writers Soviet emigrants to Romania Soviet Jews 21st-century American Jews