Glenn O'Brien

Glenn O'Brien (March 2, 1947 – April 7, 2017) was an American writer who focused largely on the subjects of art, music, and fashion. He was featured for many years as "The Style Guy" in ''GQ'' magazine and published a book with that title. He worked as a writer and editor at a number of publications, including ''Rolling Stone'', ''Playboy'', ''Interview'', '' High Times'', '' Spin'', and ''Details''. He also published the arts and literature magazine ''Bald Ego'' from 2003 to 2005.

Life and career

O'Brien was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended the Jesuit St. Ignatius High School. O'Brien went to Georgetown University and edited the ''Georgetown Journal'', which was founded by Condé Nast. O'Brien later studied film at the Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

In his early career, O'Brien was a member of Andy Warhol's Factory. He was one of the first editors of Warhol's ''Interview'' magazine. Bob Colacello, his classmate and the editor of ''Interview'', hired him as an associate editor. O'Brien significantly extended the magazine's content beyond film by including fashion and music. He worked with artist Richard Bernstein to produce the elegant new ''Interview'' logo, which is still in use today. From early 1972 to the summer of 1973, O'Brien took over Colacello's role as the managing editor of ''Interview''.

After his departure for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, he continued to write for ''Interview'' and returned as editor several times. He was a music critic for the publication in the punk era for which he penned the column "Glenn O'Brien's Beat" for 12 years.

The Rolling Stones album ''Sticky Fingers'' (1971) features an image of O'Brien in his underwear on the inner sleeve, taken by Warhol.

In the late 1970s, O'Brien had a band called Konelrad, which he described as a "socialist-realist rock band".

From 1978 to 1982, O'Brien hosted a New York city Public-access television cable TV show called ''TV Party''. During this period, O'Brien edited several iconic downtown novels, including Kathy Acker's '' Blood and Guts in High School'' and ''The Correct Sadist'' by Terence Sellers.

In 1980, he wrote the screenplay (which he also co-produced with Patrick Montgomery) for a film to be called ''New York Beat'', starring Jean-Michel Basquiat It was released in 2000 as '' Downtown 81'', with post-production managed by O'Brien and Maripol. In June 1980, O'Brien's article "Graffiti '80: The State of the Outlaw Art" was published in '' High Times'' magazine. It was the first major survey of the burgeoning graffiti art scene, which featured Basquiat, Fab 5 Freddy and Lee Quiñones. O'Brien has a cameo appearance as an art dealer in the hip-hop film ''Wild Style''.

After leaving ''TV Party'', in addition to continuing his writing career, he attempted a stint as a stand-up comedian, and was a contributing editor of '' Allure'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', and Creative Director of advertising at Barneys New York. For 10 years, he wrote a monthly column for Artforum magazine. O'Brien edited Madonna's 1992 ''Sex'' book. He had been introduced to Madonna a decade prior through her relationship with Basquiat. He also worked with her on The Girlie Show World Tour book in 1993.

In January 2008, he was named editorial director of Brant Publications, which includes ''Interview Magazine'' as well as '' Art in America'' and ''Antiques''. In June 2009 it was announced that he had left his position with Brant Publications.

He lent his collection of early Basquiat works to various exhibitions, including Deitch Projects, and is a co-author of a major volume on the artist.

Death

O'Brien died of complications from pneumonia in Manhattan on April 7, 2017, at the age of 70. Following the news of his death, Madonna called O'Brien "an amazing soul and a creative genius" in a statement on Twitter.

Personal life

O'Brien's first wife, Judy, went by the name Jude Jade as a reference to the Beatles song "Hey Jude." She was an intern at ''Interview'' magazine while O'Brien was an editor. They had a son, Terence O’Brien Pincus. His second marriage was to artist and designer Barbara Egan. In 1999, O'Brien He married his third wife, publicist Gina Nanni. The couple had a son, Oscar Lucien O’Brien.

Awards and honors

On February 17, 2009, O'Brien was named one of Top 10 Most Stylish Men in America by '' GQ''.

Published works

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References

External links

Official website for Glenn O'Brien

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Style Guy Blog

* ttps://archive.today/20130204185747/http://www.theblock-mag.com/farewell-mr-obrien/ O'Brien's final interview as Editor-In-Chief of ''Interview'' magazinein ''The Block'' Issue 18
Glenn O'Brien on How to Be a Man
on YouTube

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Glenn
1947 births
2017 deaths
American fashion journalists
American magazine editors
American music critics
Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
Deaths from pneumonia in New York City
Georgetown University alumni
People associated with The Factory
Writers from Cleveland
Writers from New York City