Visual AIDS

New Blog // New Website // Same President

2012-11-07T09:22:00.002-05:00

visualaids.org

Please bookmark Visual AIDS' new BLOG hosted on our new WEBSITE, both at www.visualAIDS.org

At 6pm on November 6th, 2012, the proverbial switch was made. The new Visual AIDS website was launched, including our new logo and the Visual AIDS Artist Registry.

Day With(out) Art, December 1, 2012 will be the official launch of the website. Over the next month we will continue to be working on the site, and looking to you to help us catch hiccups, incorrect information, and functionality issues.

This switch means that our website will no longer be hosted by TheBody.com We thank the staff there for all their years of support and encourage everyone to continue to visit their web for the most complete resource on HIV/AIDS. This blog will also be moving - no longer using blogger, our new blog will be directly integrated on our website. Please visit our new website and blog, and update your bookmarks.

We are excited to share this with you. It has been years in the making, working with community members; artists; current and former volunteers, interns, staff, and board members. We especially want to thank our web design team at Familiar Design Studio.

As we celebrate the success of another election, we look forward to our collective future, and working with you to fulfill our ongoing mission to use art to remind the world that AIDS is not over.

The Visual AIDS Staff
Nelson Santos, Executive Director
Esther McGowan, Associate Director
Ted Kerr, Programs Manager

Upcoming Events

2012-11-05T09:54:00.002-05:00

As part of recovering from Hurricane Sandy, and Tuesday's election, Visual AIDS suggests attending the following events if you can. See art, be in community, and enjoy conversation.

Required Reading Panel Discussion
6:30pm, November 7
Center for Book Arts
28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY

Join Yevgeniy Fiks (artist), Lize Mogel (artist), and Dan Schneider (Managing Editor, The Boston Occupier) with moderator and curator Yaelle Amir as the discuss the following questions: How can a publication represent an ideology? What are the strengths of printed material vs. digital media? Is the physical object more effective in interrupting an overwhelming stream of information?Has printed material re-gained its power t in the wake of an increasingly de-materialized era? For more information visit the Center's website.

New Opening Date for Vaginal Davis

7-9pm, Friday November 9

In support of the exhibition HAG-small, contemporary, haggard

November 9 - December 16, 2012

See more on the website.

Opening for ART & AIDS: it's not over

presented by GMHC in partnership with Leslie + Lohman

6-8pm, Tuesday, November 27

Feating the work of Eric Rhein, Carmine Santaniello, George Towne, Carlos Vanegas, eljay, and many others!

When Nothing Makes Sense

2012-11-03T17:46:00.000-04:00

On the Beach, At Night, Patrick Webb

When Nothing Makes Sense

While authorities may say the worst of it is over, for those experienced in trauma, we know ‘the worst of it’ is just the beginning. We know the hard work is the act of reconciling the world after the trauma strikes.

As power returns, and train service resumes, the everyday work of dealing with what happened is now upon us. Recovery can take months, years, lifetimes, and generations. While a Hurricane can be understood as a moment in time, it also unearths larger inequalities that have long been around. Why is the Stock Market running, but not gas stations on Staten Island? And why did Bloomberg even think it was a good idea to go ahead with the Marathon?

Part of what makes recovery difficult is witnessing all the unfairness. Beyond the inequality we as humans create, there the awesome power of nature. Why is one house without power, while the one next door is fine?

Even in our own neighborhood of Chelsea we must face conflicting feelings. How do we reconcile the joy that artist member Patrick Webb's current show at The Painting Center went unharmed, and is available for viewing as of this afternoon while other spaces such as Printed Matter are closed due to damage, with some galleries maybe never to reopen.

We at Visual AIDS are grateful that we will soon be able to resume our work using art to remind the world that AIDS is not over, and at the same time are hearts are broken that The Ali Forney Center for LGBT youth in Chelsea has been destroyed.

And then there is the guilt. What if yours was the house that went untouched? Or your friends are volunteering, yet you find yourself without the strength to get out of bed?

These thoughts, questions, and little ways of seeing the world add up, and are unspoken parts of recovery we have to both endure and use as fuel. If you know AIDS, then you know about injustice, and the power of community and anger to change the world. We do not have to reconcile these things, rather we witness them and move forward with an eye to the past and the present.

As the coming week unfolds, take care of yourself and others. Be gentle. Don't rush recovery if you don't have to, it takes time. For some surviving the storm is the easy part.

Hurricane Sandy Update & Event Postponement

2012-11-01T19:00:00.000-04:00

Chelsea post Sandy, photo the New York Observer

We hope all of you are well in the aftermath of the hurricane. Our thoughts are with everyone without power or whose home or workspace has been damaged. Our office is located in Chelsea, and though it is undamaged, we are currently without power. As soon as our neighborhood is back up and running, we will be back in the office.

We are postponing our Positive Assertions event, which had been scheduled for this Saturday (November 3), because our venue, the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is also without power. We plan to reschedule the event for early 2013, and we will keep everyone updated.

We are checking emails regularly, so don't hesitate to email us at info@visualaids.org if you have any questions or need assistance.

We also wanted to share some links for any of you who might need resources or may like to donate or volunteer to help those devastated by the hurricane:

CERF+ Emergency Response
Occupy Sandy
Occupy Sandy Donations
Red Hook Recovers
Lower Easy Side Recovers
Astoria Recovers
Brooklyn Based: How to Help
Brokelyn: How to Help
Rockaway Relief
Food Not Bombs: Sandy Relief
The Week: How to Help
Free Showers and Exercise at New York Sports Clubs

We look forward to getting back in touch as soon as we are back in the office.
All our best,
The Visual AIDS Team

Wisdom in Being United in Anger

2012-10-26T16:22:00.000-04:00

Anna Blume, film still from UNITED IN ANGER

For Day With(out) Art 2012 Visual AIDS is distributing the film United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. In the process we have found ourselves inspired by the wisdom offered by the diversity of the people in the film. They offer solid comments that shed light on the past while also providing an idea for the way forward.

In an effort to share this wisdom we have created the Wisdom in Being United in Anger tumblr. From now to December 1st and beyond we will be updating the tumblr with new content, a mix of images, quotes, remembrances and moments. Please reblog, post, like and share!

Gregg Bordowitz and Douglas Crimp, film still from UNITED IN ANGER

Keith Haring, film still from UNITED IN ANGER

What A Mitt Show: The Personal Toll of a Romney Presidency

2012-10-24T10:41:00.000-04:00

"Flags," 1986, Brian Buczak

I'm sitting alone at a Williamsburg's bar miffed at my boyfriend. He isn't communicating the way we talked about. It has me thinking about other serious issues we could face come November. Our domestic problems will be nothing compared to what will happen if Mitt Romney is elected president.

***

I guess our problems were a bit more serious for him—I got a break up e-mail. Lousy move on his part but a motivation to really see the magnitude of this coming election and how it will affect people like me, living with HIV.

***

My history with Insurance companies and Social Security Disability is long, so I'll start from the beginning. I found out I had blood disorder called Hereditary Coproporphyria in 2001, shortly after my mother was diagnosed. When your body produces red blood cells it creates neurotoxins and enzymes to kill those toxins off, with Porphyria your missing the enzymes, which basically means you body is constantly poisoning itself.

Although it's not curable, there is a treatment called Hemetin, which cost nearly $2000 a vial. A normal round of treatment consists a week to (in some cases) months, of three to four day infusions. You are also given a shit ton of expensive medications to treat the related symptoms.

Before my mom passed away in 2003 from complications of disease, her medical expenses were a bit over $1.5 million dollars, reaching past the cap insurance company would pay. Nearly half of her life insurance money that came after she died went to pay off those expenses.

After her death, my dad paid my insurance for a few years. When I turned twenty I applied for, and was awarded, Social Security Disability and have continued to rely on that “safety net” for the last seven years. In 2009, I found out I was HIV positive. The already ridiculously expensive medical bills became three times worse with the addition of antivirals and other new medications having to do with the combination of diseases.

I'm lucky to have the coverage I do--I don't have to pay that much in insurance premiums but only receive about $500 a month cash assistance and can only make an additional $220 a month before I am at risk of loosing/having benefits reduced or have to start paying more. Which isn't really an option, seeing that your not permitted to have more than something like $1000 in saving at any given time. It's a trap. And a necessity for millions of Americans like me.

Nearly 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV; 40% of HIV positive people receive their HIV medication through Medicaid. You cannot be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition and the cap on how much an insurance company has to pay towards your medical expenses is gone.

So what would a Romney/Ryan administration mean? It would devastate Medicare and Medicaid. A study released on Tuesday reports that Paul Ryan’s budget plan would end up cutting $1.7 billion from Medicaid, dropping enrollments by nearly 50%.

I talked with my Dad about this and what it was like to be a caretaker for a spouse with a serious, chronic disease. “There's sadness,” he said, “ in part just because you're exhausted. Sadness at the current state of life. Sadness just that a lot of the happiness seems gone, not permanently gone, but somewhere else far off. Maybe you'll be back there one day. And of course there's fear. Fear that all this chaos and exhaustion will never end. And fear that it will.”

I guess what frightens me most is the possibility of being alone and sick, being my mother and father—the sick and the caretaker.

***

Like the email I got from my ex, the Romney campaign is blurring their true intentions. But unlike with my relationship, I know what’s coming. If don’t to be without insurance-less I have to vote for President Obama.

Brad Crelia is a writer and editor.

He is a founder of hivster.com

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION INTERNATIONAL QUEER ARTISTS

2012-10-22T11:30:00.000-04:00

John Parot, Pink Pentagram, 2012

Acrylic and enamel on asphalt felt

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL QUEER ARTISTS

Deadline: Friday, November 16, 2012

Darin Klein & Friends Present With Suzanne Wright:

21^stCentury Queer Artists Identify Themselves #4

21^stCentury Queer Artists Identify Themselves is an ongoing ‘zine project by and about queer artists from around the world living and working in the 21^st Century. A resource for sharing information and educating ourselves and our peers. A guide to identifying, contacting and inspiring each other. Not a visual artist? Queer artists work in many ways, and all are welcome – we’re sure you can think of a way to contribute! Writers, bakers, dancers/choreographers, publishers, intuitives, gallerists, etc. – ALL WELCOME!

Please make sure to invite other queer artists from all corners of the globe. We invite past participants to participate again and make sure to recruit some new blood. We really hope that many types of queer artists will take part in this project with us!

Instructions:

1. Make 100 standard 8 1/2 x 11” copies of images and/or texts documenting or representing your work. The printing process (black ‘n white, full color, different colors of paper) is all up to you. Your name must be somewhere on the page to identify yourself. Limit one double-sided page per artist. Tip: Approximately 1/2 inch will be obscured by the stapling process on the left-hand 11” edge of the page.

Deadline: for submissions: Friday, November 16, 2012

2. Ship or hand-deliver to:

Darin Klein

1529 1/2 Rosalia Road

Los Angeles, CA 90027

Feel free to leave work under my front gate wrapped for safety in all types of weather. Please do not use shipping services that require a signature for delivery.

3. Your work is done! Suzanne Wright and Darin Klein will collate and staple it all together. The result will be 100 ‘zines including ALL of the submissions. The ‘zine will be released to the public on Monday, November 26 at ForYourArt in Los Angeles as part of The Third Annual Queer Pile-up!

4. We’ll send you a copy of the finished project if you include a mailing address with your delivery - or you can attend the Queer Pile-up! and grab a copy!

Note: Artists outside the US can email digital files.We will print them for you in black ‘n white and include them in the ‘zine. Send to darinklein.la@gmail.com

Patrick Webb - “On the Beach, at Night”

2012-10-15T21:08:00.003-04:00

“On the Beach, at Night”
Patrick Webb

October 30-November 24, 2012
Reception : Thursday, November 1, 6-8 PM

The Painting Center
547 West 27th St., #500
NYC, NY, 212-343-1060
thepaintingcenter.org
patrick-webb.com

Press close bare-bosom'd night—press close magnetic nourishing night!
Night of south winds—night of the large few stars!
Still nodding night—mad naked summer night.---Whitman

A catalog is available.
image : Ember, 50", o/c

ACT UP Shorts at BAM

2012-10-15T17:48:00.000-04:00

ACT UP Shorts

BAM Rose Cinemas
Mon., Oct 15 at 6:50 PM

Fast Trip, Long Drop
Directed by Gregg Bordowitz
(1994) 54min, BetaSP

Doctors, Liars and Women
Directed by Jean Carlomusto and Maria Maggenti

(1988), 24 min, BetaSP

East River Park
Directed by Zoe Leonard and Nancy Brooks Brody

(1991) 4min, DVD

“I want to challenge artists to deal with AIDS in whatever form they want—but to do it in a way that reveals what their stake is, to do it in a way that doesn’t pose as objectivism, that doesn’t pose as removed for any academic reasons of aestheticism. To honestly deal with what is at stake for them in the AIDS crisis.”—Gregg Bordowitz

A collection of shorts by artists associated with ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), including Jean Carlomusto & Maria Maggenti’s documentation of the first AIDS demonstration focused on women, Zoe Leonard’s somber exploration of the graffiti at a popular cruising spot, and Gregg Bordowitz’s essay film about his identity as both an AIDS activist and a person living with the disease.

+ Q&A with filmmakers Jean Carlomusto, Gregg Bordowitz, Zoe Leonard, and Nancy Brody

POSTPONED: POSITIVE ASSERTIONS

2012-10-12T18:45:00.001-04:00

DUE TO HURRICANE SANDY

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO EARLY 2013.

a screen shot of PLAY SMART images and work from our POSITIVE ASSERTIONS panelists

Visual AIDS presents

POSITIVE ASSERTIONS

A Talkshow & Tell Event in support of PLAY SMART

3:30 – 5:30pm

Saturday, November 3

Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art

26 Wooster Street

Free, All are Welcome

A Discussion with

Amos Mac (Original Plumbing, and PLAY SMART artist),

Devin Elijah (devinelijah.com, Epilogue)

Jessica Whitbread (AIDS ACTION NOW)

Moderated by Sacha Yanow (Art Matters)

Love your body, Love every body, Love everybody. This is one message of the PLAY SMART trading card campaign, part of Visual AIDS’ Print + Editions.

Embodying this tri-fold message of love are panelists Amos Mac, Devin Elijah, and Jessica Whitbread, each using their experience, bodies, and creativity to assert the positive value of their lives. In conversation with Sacha Yanow, each artist will show and discuss their work.

Come early to view Del LaGrace Volcano: A Mid-Career Retrospective curated by Jonathan David Katz and Julia Haas. Like our panelists, Volcano uses “the self” as a site for exploration and celebration.

To learn more about PLAY SMART visit the Visual AIDS Print +Editions page.

Upcoming Frank Moore Events

2012-10-12T14:30:00.000-04:00

A photo of Frank Moore

Fantastic, Ridiculous, Punk and Passion: The Flight of Frank Moore's Painterly Hand in Dance, Performance, and Film before AIDS
Tuesday, October 16, 6:30pm
Tish School of the Arts, 721 Broadway, Rm, 613
Roundtable conversation moderated by Richard Elovich, a medical sociologist at Columbia University, former theater artist, member of ACT UP , Gran Fury, and GMHC, and Moore's perfromance collaborator.

Frank Moore: Around and About the Downtown Scene
Wednesday, November 7, 6:30pm
Einstein Auditorium, Barney Building
34 Stuyvesant Street (between 3rd ave and 9th st)
Roundatable conversation with Hilton Als, staff writer, The New Yorker; Tom Finkelpearl, Director, Queens Museum of Art; Jane Hammond, artist; and Klaus Kertess, curator. Moderated by Lynn Gumpert, Director, Grey Art Gallery.

"I don't do stuff for the dead. I keep promises."

2012-10-12T14:11:00.001-04:00

"Have a Beary Nice Day," 1994, Jerome Caja
nail polish, 13.25" x 11.5"

This morning, Poetry.org shared Thom Donovan's "Does the Document Promise?" which quotes Visual AIDS archive member Jerome Caja. We have reprinted it for you below.

Does the Document Promise?

--for Steve Siegel, in remembrance

Crying onto the documents doesn't make for very
good metadata

Do you believe me when I tell you I am crying while
I type this poem?

"The introduction of writing does not teach us how
to remember better, just gives us an excuse to
forget," said the Pharaoh to his scribe upon
presentation of the new invention

All the tenses of this earth are wrong today

Wondering if everything in heaven will be searchable
or whether it will be like totality

No need to search because everything is known
instantly, all good and cruel deeds like angels on
the head of a pin, even stupidity, because it is part
of knowing

Crying into the file folders, documents remind us
everything will one day be lost or ruined or totally
without context

What will become of promises, and do things also
make promises?

Does the document promise?

I would like the tense of the promise to be the tense
of the poem I am dedicating to you, just as soon
as I've written it

For, as the artist Jerome Caja says in reference to
his many friends and lovers who died of AIDS: "I
don't do stuff for the dead. I keep promises."

Now that everything becomes retrievable--
notwithstanding totality--I am crying into the index,
soaking it with tears

I am crying into a pattern of search and retrieval and
losing everything because you can't be here.

Opportunity for Artists living with HIV

2012-10-12T13:57:00.000-04:00

Calling HIV+ artists!
CAMP Rehoboth, a LGBT community center in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is looking for HIV+ artists to showcase their artwork at CAMP Rehoboth for the month of December as part of a special World AIDS Day art exhibit.

Exhibition will hang from November 26 through January 1st. Artwork must be framed and ready to be hanged. However, there is some room for multimedia artwork (sculpture, etc).

Artwork could either be sent to CAMP Rehoboth or arrangements can be made to pick up the artwork in the NYC metro area.

Please contact Salvatore Seeley, 302-227-5620 or email at: SalvatoreSeeley@aol.com for more information or send a jpg of artwork for consideration.

Please visit CAMP Rehoboth at www.camprehoboth.com for more information about the community center.

Visual AIDS recommends

2012-10-12T13:25:00.000-04:00

Brice Brown, Brazen Man; Folio IX; Recto, 2012

Brice Brown: HOMUNCULUS

October 11 - November 10, 2012

Schroeder Romero & Shredder

531 West 26th street

The ambitious exhibition takes over both gallery spaces and includes new archival pigments and sculptures, as well as a site-specific installation composed of 12 colored cast glass tables and a 125" x 650" panoramic wall covering. Using alchemy as a jumping off point, the works in the exhibition explore the act of liberation through transformation--both extreme and subtle.

Christal Brown

Christal Brown and INSPIRIT: The Evolution

Friday, October 12, 2012 at 8pm

$20

Join INSPIRIT with new Artistic Director Alexandra Warren as the company performs work from 2003-present; showcasing choreography by Brown, Alexander Warren and others. TICKETS

Artist Members Event

2012-10-12T13:04:00.001-04:00

Shungaboy, "Blue Torso", 2012, Acrylic on Canvas

ART FAIR AND SALE

including work by Carmine Santaniello and George Towne

Annex Gallery aka the Basement Gallery

127-B Prince St., NYC

3 day art sale with many works under $300.

Friday, October 19, 6-8 pm
Saturday and Sunday, October 20 - 21, 12-7 PM

Featuring the works of several gay artists including: Rob Clarke, JC Etheredge, Anthony Gonzales, Kim Hanson, Tai Lin, Marcelo Maia, Tom Muscatello, Chuck Nitzberg, Aldo Putignano, Carmine Santaniello, Shungaboy, Gary Speziale, Adam Tharp, George Towne, Todd Yeager

(All sales cash or check only)

Working Together for Change

2012-10-10T10:51:00.002-04:00

Two interesting and very accessible workshops about empowering community and individuals

What does it Really Take to Work Together Now?
Open Space Training
Saturday, October 20th, 10am-3pm (Coffee and pastries @ 9:30 am)

The A.M.E. Zion Church on The Hill

2005 Amsterdam Ave, Washington Heights, NY

Free - Donations for food and materials welcome

Open Space --- a self organizing structure for moving to wise action together --- to a collective of progressive black church leaders who are committed to activating their legacy of social justice work in their communities. The invitation is open to everyone who is interested in the broader inquiry of What does it Really Take to Work Together Now? Most of the day will be in the Open Space format discussing this question. More info here.

World Cafe
Thursday, October 18, 9am-12 noon
Harm Reduction Coalition
22 West 27th Street, 5th Fl, New York, NY
$25/person or $20/person for teams and small not-for-profits

World Cafe was originated by Juanita Brown who organized migrant workers with Ceasar Chavez and co-founded civil rights organizations. It is also a self-organizing structure that supports group meaning making and finding agreement across diverse perspectives. Training lead by Allen Frimpong, Nancy Fritsche-Eagan and Kelly McGowan. Click here for more information and to register.

Tony Feher at the Blaffer Art Museum

2012-10-09T12:18:00.000-04:00

Tony Feher: Tony Feher
Blaffer Art Museum
University of Houston
120 Fine Arts Building, Houston, TX

October 13, 2012 - March 17, 2013
Reception: October 12, 6-9pm

Feher's art can initially be challenging in its apparent ordinariness, in particular when it comes to the nature of his materials. Feher's works are mostly made up of objects that typically play a passing role in our lives and then are discarded after their contents are consumed. Feher selects the elements for his sculptures with utmost care and restraint. Despite their generic character, ready availability, and ubiquity, in his hands they become specific. He often lives with materials for a long time, finally singling them out for their formal qualities and potentialities. Feher doesn't seek so much to transform as to accentuate the inherent characteristics of his artistic tools, to enable us to truly see and appreciate their value and beauty, or simply to see and appreciate things differently and anew.

For a full list of programs and events at www.blafferartmuseum.org.

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1956, Feher grew up mostly in Corpus Christi, with early stops in Florida and Virginia and pursued a BA from the University of Texas at Austin. He now lives in New York.

Go Out This Week for Good Reasons!

2012-10-08T23:04:00.001-04:00

QUEEROCRACY takes In The Flesh to Bedlam: A Fundraiser
Tuesday, October 9
8pm to 2am
Bedlam Bar
40 Avenue C

Self-starting queer organizations In the Flesh and QUEEROCRACY are teaming up for a fundraiser! In The Flesh is a lit organization that makes space for brave new conversations. QUEEROCRACY is doing exciting HIV activist work!

Launch The Bureau!
Fundraiser at ClampArt
Friday, October 12
7 to 9pm
ClampArt
521-531 West 25th Street, Ground Floor
Suggested donation of $20

ClampArt is proud to host Launch the Bureau! A Fundraiser for the Bureau of General Services—Queer Division. A silent auction of gifts from artists and authors will take place from 7 to 8:30. At present, the list of contributing artists and authors includes the following:
Penny Arcade, Justin Vivian Bond, Christopher Bram, AA Bronson, Kate Huh, Scott Hug, John Jerard, Wayne Koestenbaum, Aaron Krach, Carlos Motta, Sarah Schulman, Buzz Slutzky, Pamela Sneed, Visual AIDS, Laurie Weeks.

Find out more: Bureau of General Services - Queer Division

Art Action History: Host a Ribbon Bee.

2012-10-05T18:06:00.000-04:00

An early Ribbon Bee

Did you know the Red Ribbon was created by a group of artists who came together to use their creativity for support and social change?

Do you and your friends want to raise HIV/AIDS awareness? Learn more about HIV Criminalization? Create ribbons to give out for Day With(out) Art?

Visual AIDS is looking for friends, lovers, individuals, and organizations to host ribbon bees.

Hosting a Ribbon Bee is as a simple as gathering a group of friends together.

Visual AIDS will help you do the rest. We will provide you with ribbon, NOT OVER buttons, instructions on how to create the ribbons, and information from the Sero Project about HIV Criminalization you can use to start conversation.

Details:
Who: You, Visual AIDS and some friends & volunteers
What: Coming together to create red ribbons for Day With(out) Art
When: Between now and December 1st
Where: Where ever you can bring together a group of volunteers
Why: To create red ribbons, gather together as a community and raise awareness of HIV
How: Simply. You provide the space and the people power and Visual AIDS will provide the supplies, and the instructions.

You can give the completed ribbons back to Visual AIDS to distribute across New York City, or you can keep them to give out in your own community.

Next Steps:
For more information, to order supplies, contact Ted at Visual AIDS tkerr@visualaids.org or (212) 627-9855. Let him know when and where you will be hosting the bee, and how many volunteers you are expecting.

2011 Ribbon Bee at Liberty Park, courtesy of Shanti Avirgan

AIDS IS....

2012-10-05T10:27:00.000-04:00

an AIDS IS post it from a workshop

A guest blogger shares his thought on what HIV/AIDS means to him.

Today I’m going to open a new document, and I’m going to start writing a story that includes the phrase, “…the illustrator Antonio, who died of AIDS in 1987 at age 44….” And I am going to think, while I am writing, of many facts about myself that relate to this short phrase.

The number “44” sticks in my mind, because I am 42, because when Antonio died, he was an internationally known fashion artist who was trying, with all his might and mixed success, to become a fine artist, because I wanted to become a different sort of person than I am now, a different sort of writer, a published and recognized writer of fiction instead of an anonymous writer of magazine profiles and essays, because Antonio is dead and I am alive, although part of me is dying. This isn’t self-pity; it’s a bland fact. Lots of writers are, and I am not special in that way.

The word AIDS (I paused here for a long time; writing that word sends me down a rabbit-hole of memory to the first time I heard it, in a sex-education class in my Episcopal high school in 1983 when I was 12. Mike Waters, a classmate, probably also 12: “What is AIDS?” The teacher: “AIDS is what happens when your penis touches shit.” I’ve never stopped being angry over this misinformation. You could fuck piles and piles of HIV-infected fecal matter and walk away scot-free. If you don’t know something, educators, try using this handy expression: “I don’t know.”)…the word AIDS relates to 1983 for me, and, by extension, 2012. I turned 13 in 1983, and I’m 42 today, and because of AIDS, through that entire span of years, my sex life has been mediated through a thin layer of latex. Well, no; no, not entirely.

In 2009, I met a man I liked, “Hugo,” and a few months into the relationship, after we both tested negative, he started fucking me without a condom. I became greedy for his sperm. Having him away from me, not having his warm unsheathed penis inside my body, was torture. I counted the minutes until I could feel him ejaculate inside me again. (Actually, his spurts didn’t feel like anything; it was his happiness, the joyful noises he made when he came, the sense I had of helping him reach that state, that I loved. I couldn’t love him, but I loved the transgression. Once, after he came, he dug his semen out of my ass, and fed it to me.) But this situation spiraled out of control—drugs were involved—and I had to end it. A paradox: I was afraid of contracting HIV, I was afraid of illness and death, so I ended it. But that felt a little like dying, and what has followed feels like death. Being fucked in the ass is the purest expression of my homosexuality. It’s when I am the most gay that I can be. And it’s impossible for me now.

Recently, at a Visual AIDS workshop, I was asked to complete the statement, “AIDS is…” I struggled to put my 30 years of being angry into words. But now I can say: AIDS is unrealized feelings, thwarted desires, imprisonment. It’s enduring little deaths in order to avoid the bigger one. I loved you the best I could, Hugo, and I’m sorry I had to send you away.

Short History of Muppet Activism

2012-10-04T11:35:00.000-04:00

via thedailybeast.com

Can you tell me how to get to Activism Street? Mitt Romney said at Wednesday’s debate that he “loves Big Bird” but he’s not willing to “borrow from China” to subsidize Sesame Street’s network, PBS. It's not the first time a Muppet has entered the national debate on a key issue. Here’s a look back at notable Muppet activism.

Romney: ‘I Love Big Bird’

Is Snuffleupagus safe? The Republican presidential nominee vowed to make good on his campaign promise to defund PBS—even though he admitted his fondness for the Muppets. “I’m sorry, Jim,” Romney told the Denver debate moderator, PBS’s Jim Lehrer. “I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. Actually, I like you too. But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for.” Romney’s comment immediately went viral, with tweets flying about “killing Big Bird.” Romney must have a fondness for the yellow bird—he mentioned Big Bird at a campaign event in December, when he promised not to kill the bird but said his show needed to start selling ad time. Looks like Romney wants capitalism to be the next lesson on Sesame Street.

HIV/AIDS Awareness

How does one explain the gravity of South Africa’s AIDS epidemic to children? Takalani Sesame, the South African version of Sesame Street, tackled this tricky task by introducing Kami, the world’s first HIV-positive Muppet, in 2002. The red-haired, yellow-bodied Muppet debuted with the goal of challenging the stereotype of the sickly, HIV-infected child with her bubbly and friendly personality—dispensing valuable information about the disease for kids to soak up. On World AIDS Day in 2006, Kami appeared with former U.S. president Bill Clinton to deliver a message about HIV and AIDS.

Anti-Bullying

Big Bird has big feet—and that’s enough to deny him entrance in the Good Birds Club, at least according to a group of bullies that tease the yellow giant for his size. In a 2011 episode of Sesame Street addressing the headline-grabbing bullying epidemic, Big Bird is traumatized by the insults and asks the fairy Abby to make him smaller, so the bullies would stop berating him. Of course, his friends soon rally around him, and help the beloved bird understand why he’s special—helping kids learn how to stand up for themselves in a safeway.

Healthy School Lunches

Really? Pizza is a vegetable? Kermit joined Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers on a November 2011 “Weekend Update” segment of the late-night program to rant and rave over a congressional decision that would allow the use of tomato paste on pizza to satisfy the vegetable requirement in school lunches. “Cafeteria pizza barely qualifies as pizza. It has the same nutritional value as the tray it’s served on,” griped Meyers. “Have you been to the town pool? Those aren’t swimsuits, those are sausage casings,” the flabbergasted frog said, adding, “I’m really gonna be in trouble for that one later.”

See more videos here

ACT UP OCCUPY: a report from a screening

2012-10-03T16:25:00.000-04:00

photo credit: Ali Cotterill

For AIDS activist OCCUPY felt familiar, and for many OCCUPY activists, there was something exciting about (re)connecting with ACT UP. Last month OCCUPY and ACT UP came together to screen UNITED IN ANGER: A History of ACT UP. Writer Christa Orth was there and reports back.

On September 20th, the Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side in New York City filled with an audience eager to see United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. Members and former-members of ACT UP New York and Occupy hosted a free screening and rousing conversation about the two groups, who have been compared frequently to each other.

Event organizer Sofia Gallisá Muriente, is an Occupy activist who, after seeing United in Anger in the theater, wanted to bring the two groups together as “an opportunity to draw connections, share skills, compare strategies, reflect on our mutual past and gear up for future struggles.”

Director Jim Hubbard introduced the film, explaining United in Anger has two purposes 1.) to put AIDS activism square into U.S. history where it belongs 2.) to teach and inspire audiences to create and sustain their own effective social movements. United in Anger succeeds in doing both, judging by audience reactions.

After the film, Sofia moderated a discussion between Jim Hubbard, ACT UP activists Ann Northrop, Jim Eigo, and Bill Dobbs, and the audience, many of whom were Occupy activists. It was most inspiring to hear seasoned ACT UP activists encouraging the Occupy movement to keep the pressure on, and to not give up. Though Occupy has been criticized for a lack of focus, Ann Northrop made the astute point that Occupy Wall Street had been tremendously effective at getting the world’s attention about growing economic disparity in the United States.

After the event, social media was alight with praise for United in Anger and the ensuing conversation. Audience member Emily Alexander wrote, "So glad I made it tonight! Inspired and motivated by the accomplishments of ACT UP and the shared strategies and dialogue: reverence versus consensus, teach-ins, media tactics..."

Sage Jacobs wrote, "…the lecture and film meant a lot on so many levels. It meant a lot in regards to AIDS activism and fighting for queer rights, in regards to Occupy, and in regards to other forms of activism I do. It also made me think a lot about how to properly and effectively organize in regards to protesting and activism, how to connect, and gave me good tips on how to get to the next level. It's also good to see how small groups of people are always the ones who make change happen…The film was really incredibly done on so many levels and such an important document of both AIDS and queer history.”

BIO: Christa Orth writes for the ACT UP Oral History Project, is on the board of MIX NYC: Queer Experimental Film Festival, and is a proud Lambda Literary Fellow. Follow her on Twitter @christamaeorth.

photo credit: Ali Cotterill

Interested in screening United in Anger in your community? Visual AIDS is distributing the film for World AIDS Day/Day With(out) Art on December 1, 2012. Contact Ted Kerr at tkerr@visualaids.org -- they will help you set up your screening, provide you a DVD or Blu Ray and a Viewer's Guide.

October Web Gallery: Notes on a Steady Decline, Curated by Steven Evans

2012-10-01T11:25:00.000-04:00

Brian Buczak, Flags, 1996, acrylic, 46" x 30"

Each month, Visual AIDS invites guest curators, drawn from both the arts and AIDS communities, to select several works from the Frank Moore Archive Project. This month, Steven Evans curated the online web gallery Notes on a Steady Decline, featuring the artwork of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Vincent Cianni, Joe Brainard, Albert J. Winn, Eric Rhein, Paul Thek, Tim Greathouse, Tseng Kwong Chi, Brian Buczak, Sunil Gupta, Nelson Edwin Rodriguez, Hunter Reynolds, and Chuck Ramirez.

Curator's Statement:
A steady decline can refer to t-cells, general health, or even economic performance. Conversely, it can also now signify a steady decline of deaths from AIDS and hopefully HIV infections. Whatever our perspective, we cannot forget that the AIDS crisis is not over, and that far too many of the artists in this selection left this world too soon. Others continue to strive. And each artist has created work that is at once sublime and unsentimental. (read more)

About the Curator:
Steven Evans is a curator, arts administrator, artist, and writer. From 2010-2012 he was Executive Director and Curator of the Linda Pace Foundation in San Antonio, TX, managing its projects, programs, and collection of contemporary art. From 1989-2010, he worked in a variety of capacities for the Dia Art Foundation, managing Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries from 2003-2010. His 2009 independent exhibition project for Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, Other Voices, Other Rooms, was recognized by an International Art Critics Association/AICA award. Evans was a member of the Visual AIDS Artists' Caucus in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Meningococcal + AIDS + Art (on repeat)

2012-10-01T10:18:00.002-04:00

Last week the media and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported fatal cases of Invasive Meningococcal Disease among "men who have sex with men", many of which are living with HIV.

In reading the stories it was hard not to think about the earliest reporting on AIDS; the fear, the demographics. In 2009, artist Wu Tsang created a Print + Edition entitled Conception that isolated the headlines (see above). At the time Tsang wrote:

"Conception" presents media headlines from June through November 1981; the moment before AIDS officially entered language. It is part of an ongoing project that considers the AIDS crisi, as a social event and as an art movement, from my position as an artiost born in 1982. AIDS, as a word, disease and cultural phenomena, came into focus in a parallel with the formation of my generation of queer political artists.

For more Visual AIDS Print + Editions please visit our website: Print + Editions (also known as Broadsides)

Barton Lidice Benes: The Thrill of the Hunt

2012-10-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

The Thrill of the Hunt
October 11 - November 10, 2012
Pavel Zoubok Gallery
533 West 23rd Street
Opening reception: Thursday, October 11, 2012, 6-8pm

This memorial exhibition celebrates the life and work of Visual AIDS archive artist Barton Lidice Benes (1942-2012). The exhibition features work from Benes Legendary Westbeth studio including his seminal assemblage Money Purse (1986).

Over the last decade, Beneš created Museums, displays of collectible objects (often belonging to well-known personalities) and relics that he mounted, labeled and placed into thematic arrangements. These works were celebrated in the 2002 Abrams monograph Curiosa: Celebrity Relics, Historical Fossils, & Other Metaphoric Rubbish. With his museums, Benes shared a perverse sense of humor that allowed him to make light of even the darkest subjects. This included his own tireless fight against the AIDS epidemic and his activism in chronicling his own HIV+ status in a series of works created with his infected blood. These were the subject of the groundbreaking exhibition entitled Lethal Weapons, which made Beneš a cause celebre as it toured Europe in the 1990s. A first- generation veteran of the AIDS epidemic, he has been featured in numerous documentary films about Art, AIDS and gay history, including Lovett Productions’ Gay Sex in the 70s.