Although he died on the age of 37 on account of AIDS issues, David Wojnarowicz left a strong legacy of avant-garde artmaking, passionate LGBTQ+ and incapacity activism, and withstanding friendships — all of which can be commemorated on the New York Metropolis AIDS Memorial Park. To rejoice what would have been the trailblazing artist’s seventieth birthday, the NYC AIDS Memorial has partnered with the David Wojnarowicz Basis, Visible AIDS, and PPOW Gallery for an interdisciplinary remembrance occasion on Saturday night time, September 14.
The night will start with a collaborative stage studying of The Waterfront Journals (1997) — a posthumously revealed assortment of the artist’s early-career autobiographical fiction tales impressed by the highly effective voices he encountered throughout his chaotic coming of age, written as quick monologues. The studying can be accompanied by a musical efficiency by the band Rimbaud Hattie, comprised of members from Wojnarowicz’s previous band 3 Teenagers Kill 4: Doug Bressler, Julie Hair, and John Kelly.
The NYC AIDS Memorial can be slated to unveil a park bench devoted to Wojnarowicz, memorializing his fervent activism to finish the HIV/AIDS stigma from the ’80s till his premature passing in 1992. Afterward, a candlelit procession will course alongside the westside waterfront to the LGBTQ Memorial at Hudson River Park.
“At Visible AIDS, we actually worth bringing individuals collectively to honor our histories and our areas, so it’s significant that the occasion will finish with a procession to the Hudson River waterfront, which holds a lot queer and AIDS historical past,” mentioned Kyle Croft, govt director of Visible AIDS, in an electronic mail to Hyperallergic.
“Whereas he and so many different artists had been misplaced earlier than their time, this is a chance to fulfill a wealthy group of artists who maintain a lot residing historical past,” Croft famous.
Wojnarowicz was born in New Jersey on September 14, 1954, and grew up shuttled between Lengthy Island and Michigan along with his siblings, enduring each neglect and abuse from his alcoholic father who kidnapped them after he divorced their mom. He and his siblings finally situated their mom in New York Metropolis and moved in along with her throughout the mid-Nineteen Sixties. Used to being unsupervised and left to his gadgets, Wojnarowicz slipped into the seedy, underground counterculture of town as a younger teenager and started turning tips to assist himself whereas attending the distinguished Excessive Faculty of Music and Artwork in Manhattan.
The artist left his mom’s condo and was unhoused throughout his late teenagers, squatting and sleeping in midway homes whereas hustling. He traveled throughout the nation and coursed by Paris earlier than returning to town and discovering work as a busboy on the iconic nightclub Danceteria. Dedicated to life on the margins of society, Wojnarowicz fashioned 3 Teenagers Kill 4, documented the gritty life of the Decrease East Facet, and bought concerned with creating the choice arts scene that took over the decrepit piers of Manhattan’s west aspect — a preferred web site for homosexual cruising on the time.
Wojnarowicz engaged with all kinds of media, from graffiti and avenue artwork murals to pictures, poetry and writing, assemblage installations and sculpture, movie and efficiency, portray, and works on paper. He was recognized for flouting conservative beliefs and pushing boundaries with sexually specific motifs. He turned recognized for his activism, each visible and vocal, surrounding the AIDS disaster, having deployed his portrait for ACT UP’s “Silence = Loss of life” marketing campaign and original an iconic denim jacket that learn “If I die of AIDS, overlook burial and drop my physique on the steps of the FDA.”
His dedication to political activism heightened upon the lack of his shut pal and mentor, American photographer Peter Hujar, who died of AIDS 1987. Wojnarowicz discovered of his personal prognosis shortly after, and produced associated art work and literature till his dying in 1992.
“Since our dedication in 2016, the New York Metropolis AIDS Memorial has been a really particular place to recollect and replicate on the continuing impacts of the AIDS disaster and we’re honored to host this cross-generational gathering of inventive vitality to rejoice and honor David’s life and work,” mentioned Dave Harper, govt director of the Memorial, in an electronic mail to Hyperallergic.
The remembrance occasion is about to start at 5pm.
