Bill Jacobson (born 1955). Interim Portrait #373, 1992 Chromogenic color print, 24 × 20 inches Courtesy of the artist Photo courtesy of the artist.
Wednesday 07.13.16
Art AIDS America
You can say a lot of rude things about millennials; we’re entitled, can’t raise our phone off our tits — I’ve heard them all. Get some new ones, Mom! But if there is one thing millennials have an unappreciated knack for, it’s our ability to not forget. You didn’t like my Instagram post? Bitch, you better remember that I remember that! Growing up a millennial, the AIDS era lingered behind you. When NY Mag did their feature on Truvada, I remember being appalled that some men from the AIDS era were so disgusted that the drug was available (I was young, they have their reasons.) Not all of them were so conniving, but queens my age felt attacked — we were never blind to the fact that the epidemic shifted gay culture. Artists, including Kia Labeija, David Wojnarowicz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Bill Jacobson and more, “give voice to perspectives that are too often suppressed, and [Art AIDS America] reveals how they have changed both the history of art in America and the response to this disease.” Featuring more than 125 works spanning from 1981 to the present, The Bronx Museum of the Arts "will present the first exhibition to examine the deep and ongoing influence of the AIDS crisis on American art and culture.” The notorious suppression of the AIDS outbreak had a direct result in major miseducation, so it’s important shows like this go up. In doing so, we uncover truths, celebrate lives, and commemorate those gone before us.
