Mixed Messages: A(l)DS, Art+ Words
Curated by John Chaich at La MaMa La Galleria
June 2-July 3, 2011; Opening Reception: Thursday June 2, 2011 6 - 8PM
New York, March 9, 2011 - For the fourth consecutive year, Visual AIDS presents a group exhibition at La MaMa La Galleria to coincide with the June LGBT Pride celebrations. Mixed Messages: A(I)DS, Art + Words includes over forty text-based works by visual artists and designers whose reactions to and connections through HIV/AIDS reflect the contemporary moment's tenor on the pandemic. From painting to print, sculpture and installation, the featured works juxtapose public messages with deeply personal revelations, which are at once polemic and poetic, positive and negative, both in tone and form. A series of public programs will also take place on site.
Mixed Messages will be presented at La Ma Ma La Galleria 6 E. 1st Street between Bowery and Second Avenue from June 2 through July 3, 2011. There will be an opening reception on Thursday June 2, 2011 from 6:00- 8:00PM. Gallery Hours: Thursday through Sunday 1:00-6:00 PM. The exhibition and events are open to the public and wheelchair accessible. Gallery Telephone: 212- 505-2476.
Mixed Messages features work from U.S. and international artists and designers, both emerging and established. A mix of art, activism, and design, the exhibition pairs internationally renowned figures like Felix Gonzalez-Torres, John Giorno, Glenn Ligon, Deborah Kass, Yoko Ono, Jack Pierson, Kay Rosen, David Wojnarowicz, and Rob Wynne, with critically-acclaimed emerging talent such as Leslie Hewitt, Matt Keegan, Lucas Michael, and J. Morrison. It also presents works by legendary activists Gran Fury and General Idea alongside prints by award-winning graphic artists Anthony Burrill, Experimental JetSet, and James Joyce.
The full list also includes: Robert Blanchon, Paul Chisholm, Cammi Climaco, Amanda Curreri, Craig Damrauer, Joe De Hoyos, Chloe Dzublio and T. De Long, Avram Finkelstein, Nicholas Fraser, Andrew Graham, Nolan Hendrickson, James Jaxxa, Jayson Keeling, Amanda Keeley, KleinReid, Larry Krone, Lou Laurita, Rudy Lemcke, Liz Maugans, Sam McKinniss, Ivan Monforte, Nightsweats & T-Cells, Christopher Pennock, Charlie Welch, and Frederick Weston.
"The relationships of these artists to HIV and how it informs their work is as mixed as the messages we hear about the virus today," notes curator John Chaich. "The public perception of HIV has shifted from that of an urgent crisis to a manageable condition, and these artists' reactions suggest and address this greater empathy, apathy and advocacy."
Mixed Messages will fully inhabit La Galleria: from the gallery doors (Amanda Keeley and Amanda Curreri) to the bathroom; from the attendant's monitor (General Idea) to a banner-size version of David Wojnarowicz's Untitled (One Day); and often in unexpected places (Larry Krone's handwritten message -"I Will Always Love You"- fills the bathroom walls while Nathan Fraser's semitransparent vinyl text hides among the ducts and ceiling).
Sculptural pieces and material choices parallel an almost typographic treatment to words. Rob Wynne's hand-poured glass letterforms create a wall sculpture while Cammi Climaco hangs thick, butter-like plaster letters on the wall. Visual AIDS artist Lucas Michael covers 4-feet high numerals in black leather and black liquid latex. And James Jaxxa coats the letters in his Four Letter Words series in thick glitter. Sam McKinniss scribbles on cardboard while KleinReid work with the sheen of luster tiles, developed in an artist residency in China.
Multi-generational in breadth, works included look forward and back at the impact of AIDS. Works by Cooper Union graduate Andrew Graham resonate alongside those of John Giorno, legendary beat poet, founder of AIDS Treatment Project, and Visual AIDS 1993 Broadside artist. J. Morrison's 2010 floor piece, a grid of 50 American flags silkscreened with an "AIDS Made in the USA" logo, is intended for viewers to take, while, Kay Rosen's print, featuring a range of synonyms for the word "aids", was produced originally for a World AIDS Day exhibition at LA MOGA. Seldom seen works by seminal AIDS art activist collectives General Idea and Gran Fury are included.
Macro and micro relationships felt and forged through HIV/AIDS are reflected: Frederick Weston, an artist member Visual AIDS' Frank Moore Archive Project, reflects moments of Civil Rights and AIDS protests, and Jack Pierson's Despire/Despair frames AIDS' historic and personal impact. Yoko Ono contributes a tiny canvas reading "Touch Me", while Ivan Monforte's embroidered painting states "You're Beautiful. You're So Beautiful."
Dedication:
Mixed Messages is dedicated to the memory of Lou Laurita, curatorial advisor of La MaMa La Galleria, friend of Visual AIDS, and artist who's signature work featured hand-drawn letterforms filled with provocative images and contradictory messages, often blurring legibility and meaning and often responding to sexuality, risk, power, and blame. We also mourn the loss of trans AIDS activist, performer, and Visual AIDS Archive Member artist, our brave sister Chloe Dzubilo.
About the curator:
Beginning his career as an HIV testing counselor and community educator, John Chaich has designed a range of multi-arts projects to raise AIDS awareness, from an educational theatre project funded with support from Do Something and the Red Hot Organization, to a nationally distributed edutainment zine by and for young adults, to social marketing campaigns recognized by Print magazine and most recently, assisting Visual AIDS with its annual broadside campaigns. He has presented at national conferences on AIDS and the arts, and has written on visual responses to HIV/AIDS for Art & Understanding magazine, as well as contributed to BUST magazine and the anthology, Body Outlaws: Rewriting the Rules of Beauty and Body Image. Chaich holds an MFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute.
About La MaMa La Galleria:
As an extension of the internationally acclaimed La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, La MaMa La Galleria is a nonprofit gallery committed to nurturing artistic experimentation in the visual arts. La Galleria's programming responds to questions raised by the larger cultural, artistic, and intellectual community.
About Visual AIDS:
Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over. Visual AIDS is the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects, while assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS. We are committed to preserving and honoring the work of artists with HIV/AIDS and the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement.