Although I’m following on from Martin’s post a week ago at anaba, this thread has its source in Michael Buitron. To quote him directly:
“I got an email from the Getty last week listing their activities for December, which included events in conjunction with World AIDS Day, December 1. After checking out some other L.A. museum’s calendars, I saw that the Getty was the only one that had events listed. I can remember ten or fifteen years ago when it seemed that every museum or gallery had something happening.
This got me to think that the blog-o-sphere would be an ideal way to resurrect the tradition. I thought about some of my artist friends who died before the advent of the internet, and how little of their work or lives are represented online.
To remedy that situation, and to mark ‘A Day Without Art’, I’ll be posting a short tribute to a former classmate and video artist. I thought it would be a great idea if I could get other bloggers to post on December 1 anything they’d like on artists they admire who died of AIDS.”
In an attempt to make up in quantity what I might lack in deep critical insight or revelations of little-known artists we’ve lost to AIDS, I’ll choose to pay tribute to those we already know so well but lost too soon.
David Wojnarowicz, 1954-1992
David Wojnarowicz, One Day, This Kid…, 1990.
Wojnarowicz is the first and most obvious selection here, one who is now lamentably known strictly for his queer activism when life may have granted him the grace of wider appreciation. On my first visit to NYC, the Whitney was the first museum I stepped foot in, and this was the first work that succeeded in arresting my attention completely. He has an agenda, but he also has incredible power.
Derek Jarman, 1942-1994
Derek Jarman, Still from Jubilee, 1978.
I owe Francis McKee an insurmountable debt for putting me on to Jarman during my fumbling years on the MFA at Glasgow; if I thought my research concerns were all over the map, they were nothing compared to this punk-documentarian/post-industrial alchemist/colour theorist and kick-ass gardener to boot. Jubilee remains one of my favourite films (punk, violence and a time-traveling Elizabeth I… what more could a girl want?), and I weep to think of the sheer awesomeness this man could have achieved if he were still with us today.
General Idea: Felix Partz, Jorge Zontal and AA Bronson
Felix Partz, 1945-1994
Jorge Zontal, 1944-1994
General Idea, One Year of AZT and One Day of AZT, 1991
General Idea remain ridiculously influential to anyone engaged in public art practices as well as art publishing, and made huge strides in strengthening the profile of Canadian art abroad. Almost as important is the sheer sense of fun they achieved with their works, even and especially when dealing with dire subject matter. Fortunately, their work has been recently enshrined in the new hang at the AGO, and AA Bronson remains active long after the loss of his comrades - and it’s far better to end a post such as this with a note of optimism rather than not.
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