Americans are famous—and derided—for not knowing their history. Hunter Reynolds counters this dangerous deficiency with a profound and wrenching series that commemorates a particularly heinous period in our recent past. Living with HIV/AIDS since 1984 and an early member of ACT UP, he has long fought the prejudices and misconceptions surrounding the disease, both as activist and artist. In many formidable ways, he has used contemporary events as the backdrop or inspiration for riveting works of art, among them the Blood Spot series, Mummification performances and Photo Weavings.
Between 1989 and 1993, he started collecting every article relating to AIDS/HIV in The New York Times, which he then presented on walls, tables or read in performances. Storing them in boxes, he only opened them recently to create 20 60-by-48-inch pieces, each composed of 120 photographs he sewed together to resemble quilts or tapestries. They are shown in the gallery, in this site-specific installation.
“Mummification Skin,” by Hunter Reynolds.
Splashes of blood spread across collages of news stories. In “Laughing at AIDS,” the headlines read “Father-Son Drama Over the Gay Ban,” “Nureyev Did Have AIDS,” “Blood Gives AIDS Virus to Over 300 Germans,” as well as numerous obituaries of men felled by AIDS. In “Gay Is Not OK,” a mummified body, wrapped in a plastic shroud, stretches across an article about fights in schools about gays. In the middle of “We Die In The Streets,” a black-and-white photograph of an AIDS rally, a mummy wrapped in yellow and black, stands erect amid the chaos. A multi-faceted work of tough and touching beauty, Survival AIDS should ensure that this period is never forgotten.
Through June 5, Participant Inc., 253 E. Houston St., 212-254-4334.
