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 an editor at a number of publications, and published the arts and literature magazine Bald Ego from 2003 to 2005.

Early life and education

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.

Career

In his early years, he was a member of Andy Warhol's Factory. He was the first editor of Interview from 1971 to 1974. After his departure, he continued to write for the magazine and returned as editor several times, with a nearly 20-year association with the title. He was a music critic for the publication in the punk era for which he penned the influential column "Glenn O'Brien's Beat".

In 1980–1981, 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 (The film was not released until 2000, as "Downtown 81"), with post-production managed by O'Brien and Maripol.

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.

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. He edited Madonna's book, Sex.

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 Jean-Michel 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. Madonna called O'Brien "an amazing soul and a creative genius" after releasing a statement on Twitter.

Awards and honours

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

Published works

• Edo Bertoglio (director), Glenn O'Brien (author), Saul Williams (author) (1981). Downtown 81 (video tape recording). Music Box Films. OCLC 904384382.

• Edo Bertoglio (director); Glenn O'Brien (author) (2002). Downtown 81 (1.66:1; visual material, computer file). New York, NY: Zeitgeist Films. OCLC 916421310.
• New York Beat: Jean-Michael Basquiat Downtown 81. Edo Bertoglio (Photographer). Tokyo: Petit Grand. December 1, 2001. ISBN 978-4-93910222-6.CS1 maint: others (link) Bilingual: English and Japanese.

• Patrick Demarchelier (Photograph); Glenn O'Brien (October 20, 1995). Patrick Demarchelier: Photographs. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-821221693.
• The Style Guy. Ballantine Books. 2000. ISBN 0345427270
• Roxanne Lowit; Glenn O'Brien (January 28, 2005). People. Assouline. ISBN 978-2-843232862.
• Glenn O'Brien, ed. (September 25, 2005). Sante D'Orazio: Pam: American Icon. Jeff Koons and Richard Prince. Prestel Publishing. ISBN 9783829601870.
• Glenn O'Brien (November 30, 2010). Jean-Michel Basquiat. Jean-Louis Prat and Susanne Reichling. Hatje Cantz Verlag GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-775725934.
• How To Be a Man: A Guide To Style and Behavior For The Modern Gentleman. Rizzoli. 2011. ISBN 978-0847835478.
• Glenn O'Brien, ed. (2013). The Cool School: Writing From America's Hip Underground. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-598532562.
• Dash Snow (Artist) (July 31, 2013). Glenn O'Brien (ed.). Dash Snow: I Love You, Stupid. Mary Hansen. D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers. ISBN 9781938922145.
• Inez van Lamsweerde/Vinoodh Matadin. Pretty Much Everything. M/M (design). Taschen America, LLC. November 15, 2013. ISBN 9783836527934.CS1 maint: others (link)
• Glenn O'Brien, ed. (November 30, 2013). Eddie Martinez: Paintings. Ross Simonini; Monica Ramirez-Montagut. PictureBox. ISBN 9781939799067.
• Mark Grotjahn: Masks. Dakin Hart. Rizzoli. October 27, 2015. ISBN 9780847844074.CS1 maint: others (link)
• Open English Bible. Lulu.com. July 9, 2016. ISBN 9781326731960.
• Berluti: At Their Feet. Mathias Augustyniask (illustrator); Erwan Frotin (Photographer); M/M (Paris) (design). Rizzoli. 2016. ISBN 978-0847849178.CS1 maint: others (link)
• HENNESSY, A toast to the world's preeminent spirit. Jean-Philippe Delhomme (illustrator). Rizzoli. February 14, 2017. ISBN 978-0-847847525.CS1 maint: others (link)
• Like Art: Glenn O'Brien on Advertising. Karma, New York. May 23, 2017. ISBN 9781942607489.
• Chris Martin. Dan Nadel; Nancy Princenthal; Trinie Dalton. Rizzoli. November 28, 2017. ISBN 9788857234748.CS1 maint: others (link)