Haiga of Guy Beining 2

Guy Beining

The Haiku Foundation honors the work of contemporary masters of the dual art of haiga: visual image wedded to haiku. This month’s featured artist is Guy Beining.

Guy Beining’s art looks like no one else’s. For one thing, it commonly features the written (often typed) word, which is a relative rarity in Western art. Guy has published literally thousands of poems in the small press over five decades, and has had gallery showings across the country. Add to this his nearly 100 books in print, and he is probably the most famous artist you have never heard of. What he includes in his art is not exactly haiku, but it is not exactly not haiku either. It’s his own eclectic take on the interplay between image and text, and a welcome contribution to the conversation.