Humans As Hosts: Activism Against HIV Stigma

Detail of A conversation between Theodore (ted) Kerr, Kairon (kai) Liu, Tree and maybe someone else #100402018, 2018, Kodak C-print, 20 x 24 inches (framed). Courtesy of the artist

Our DNA, the map of our genetic information (our growth, development, functioning, and reproduction), is 99.9% the same for each and every one of the 7+ billion people living on Earth. That said, while we share common genetic bonds, our social, cultural, and emotional experiences are unique. This duality is significantly addressed by two of the foremost figures in developmental psychology: Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). The research of Piaget and Vygotsky signified that it is a combination of ‘Nature’ and ‘Nurture,’ that accounts for a person’s development. In other words, while we all have the natural ability to learn and develop, how we perceive the world largely depends on our experience and education.

Being that we are so similar in our genetic makeup, yet different due to our cultural uniqueness, the way we address issues that affect health and well – being can be complex and problematic. For example, one of the greatest stigmatized health related issues of the modern era is HIV/AIDS. The fact that HIV is a stigma among civilization is ironic, because a person who is infected can look and feel perfectly fine and may not even know they have the virus for many years. Furthermore, medical breakthroughs have greatly enhanced the prognosis and care for those infected with the virus. With medicine and regimen, an HIV+ person can live a long and healthy life. In spite of all this, cultural perspectives of HIV/AIDS still discriminate against the individuals living with the virus. Judgemental viewpoints and lack of empathy for individuals living with HIV can be far more traumatic and damaging than the actual virus.

If there is one thing that should be made perfectly clear regarding nearly all physiological concerns, it  is that viruses like HIV don’t discriminate and human bodies are ample hosts to these viruses despite a person’s gender, sexual identity, race, or economic status. It is this denial, coupled with sexual and racial biases, that contributes to the greater failure of HIV/AIDS awareness. Society’s struggle to come to terms with the social and cultural issues surrounding HIV/AIDS is clear based on the lack of empathy and understanding for those living with HIV.

Interview with Curator Katherine Gressel

I recently had a discussion with curator Katherine Gressel on her upcoming show In Search of One City: Sensing (In)equality  (August 13-October 10, 2015). The exhibition examines unique elements employed by contemporary artists, which scrutinize income inequality in NYC and throughout the country. The artists that will be featured are: Artist Volunteer Center & With Food in Mind, Daniel Bejar, Mildred Beltre & Oasa DuVerney,Jennifer Dalton, Laura Hadden & Tennessee Watson, Brian Fernandes-Halloran, Sue Jeong Ka, Kenneth Pietrobono, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Dread Scott, Jody Wood 

I look forward to seeing this show at The Old Stone House in Brooklyn (5th avenue between 3rd and 4th street, Park Slope) and writing a critical analysis of the works. In anticipation of this show and its series of outreach programing, read the interview with Katherine below:

Suggested Reading: Venice Vacation Edition

– Chris Burden was one of the most extreme artists.  The use of his body under extreme circumstances as the medium for a majority of his work is largely unparallelled. He’s been shot, stapled to a Volkswagen Beetle, lived inside a school locker for five days, and much more. He passed away on May 10th, 2015 at the age of 69. RIP Chris. via LA Times

– There are some waves being made on the Adriatic Sea. A group of activists from the Ukraine have occupied the Russian pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale. The collective calls itself On Vacation. Sounds like the perfect mix of work and fun, and proof that social practice never takes a vacation. via artnet

– On a related note, the Biennale’s main exhibition has been critiqued by some as being “too political.” Critic Benjamin Genocchio writes that curator Okwui Enwezor has organized “what can only be described as the most morose, joyless, and ugly biennale in living memory; a show that, in the name of global action and social change, beats the visitor up with political theory rather than giving us the pleasures and stimulation of great art. His vision of the world is bleak, angry, and depressing.” I won’t be making it to Venice unfortunately, so I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts about whether you believe that the exhibition’s overall message has been achieved, or whether it comes off gimmicky and kitschy. Feel free to comment below! via artnet

– Russian artist Artyom Loskutov was released from custody yesterday. Loskutov was declared a “prisoner of conscience” by Amnesty International after his arrest on May 1st in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third most-populous city, was released yesterday on Sunday. His arrest was due to his Monstration, which is an absurdist parade that is intended counteract Russia’s official May Day celebrations. via The Art Newspaper

– The Neo-Expressionist painter, Jean-Michel Basquiat, is the subject of two concurrent exhibitions (Brooklyn Museum, and Art Gallery of Ontario). Read about each one in Erica Caldwell’s piece “Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Immortal Black Life.” via Hyperallergic

Suggested Reading: Spring Has Sprung Edition

– Artist/activist Dread Scott, musician and writer Johanna Fateman (Le Tigre), and multi-disciplinary artist Carlos Motta will be giving a talk this coming Thursday (March 26th) at The City College of New York exploring “Art, Social Change, and the Urban Sphere” via Hyperallergic

– The Engaging Artists Group show opens on March 28th at Hot Wood Arts, in Red Hook. The show features 13 amazing socially engaged artists whose work has been realized through volunteer work with the homeless communities of New York City. There is also a call for the next session of More Art‘s Engaging Artist Residency for socially engaged art practices. via More Art

– “Saul puts vicious private fantasies on public display, enacting what someone, somewhere is no doubt thinking. Or so we suspect. He rubs racism, sexism, and xenophobia in your face. I love his paintings, and think they rank as one of the signal achievements of American postwar art, an improbable blending of surrealism, Pop, and comic styles.” Andrew Russeth on the Peter Saul show at Venus Over Manhattan. Saul was a good friend of the Rhino Horn artists and even briefly formed a group with Peter Dean called the Torque group. His paintings share a similar gusto to the works of the Rhino Horn artists. via ArtNews

– Google’s Cultural Institute has ambitiously taken the initiative to document street art. Via Google Cultural Institute

– Anton van Dalen, a long term East Village artist visualizes four decades of the neighborhood’s gentrification ‬ within his paintings. via Hyperallergic

Suggested Reading: Post Armory Edition

The fairs are over so now we can talk about other things right?

– Perhaps, but first, did you happen to catch the crowd drawing protest of the Black Lives Matter “die-in” at the Armory Show? There is video of the whole protest in case you missed it. via Gothamist

– In related street art/graffiti news, the Times has a feature on graffiti artist Fernando Miteff (aka Nic 707) who turned a NYC subway car into an ephemeral gallery that lasts until the final stop. via New York Times

– And…Banksy has left his mark in Gaza with a series of public artworks. via USA Today

– “I think anyone who pays attention to art senses that street art is a new and exciting practice. So why is it around now? What’s exciting about it? What is it about our cultural and technological era that makes street art so compelling to so many people? Should they be so compelled?” says Nicholas  co-organizer of a three-day conference titled Philosophy of Street Art: Art in and of the Street at Pratt Institute and New York University. via Hyperallergic

– Pablo Helguera is one of the seminal social practice based contemporary artists. His work is often politically themed and he works with themes such as immigration and community engagement. The New York Times has reviewed his current exhibition at Kent Fine Art in Chelsea. via New York Times

– Listen to the first single from Die Jim Crow, a concept album around the New Jim Crow and mass incarceration. via Die Jim Crow

– Robert Moses: The Master Builder of New York City is a comic book by French writer Pierre Christin and Chilean artist Olivier Balez, which illustrates the controversial legacy of urban planner Robert Moses. via Hyperallergic

– “The collectors who own the work are young and affluent potential new donors to the insatiable funding needs of the ever expanding, constantly morphing museum that once prided itself on having its great permanent collection permanently on display.” Barbara Rose’s review of The Forever Now at the Museum of Modern Art. via Brooklyn Rail

Q + A with Jason A Maas

In my many facets as artist and arts organizer, I’ve been very fortunate to collaborate with Jason A Maas, a Brooklyn based artist and the founder and Executive Director of the non-profit Artist Volunteer Center. Jason’s an amazing draughtsman and his work as an activist is equally as inspiring. He has dedicated himself to helping others and bridging the gap between the art community and the community at large. We caught up during the hustle and bustle of Armory week to discuss socially engaged art and the antithesis of the commercial art market.

Installation shot of “November 9th” at (un)scene art show.

Suggested Reading: Past, Present, and Future

– “Of the mainstream curators and critics Judith E. Stein has been among the few to deal with issues of the emergence of the figure in the 1950s. The niche between the dominance of Abstract Expressionism and its replacement by Pop Art is the movement of Figurative Expressionism.” Charles Giuliano interviews Art Historian and Curator Judith Stein about her past projects on Figurative Expressionism, as well as her upcoming book (Eye of the Sixties, A Biography of Richard Bellamy which will be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux early in 2016) on Richard Bellamy (1927–1998), a seminal gallerist (founder of the Green Gallery from 1960 and 1965 at 15 West 57th Street in Manhattan) who introduced many important artists onto the scene in the 1960s. via Berkshire Fine Arts

– New York City has just launched their Municipal ID Card Program. The program is intended to help those who are undocumented immigrants, homeless, among others. One of the many perks is that those who sign up for New York City’s Municpal ID Card Program IDNYC get free memberships to 33 cultural institutions. via New York Times

Memorable Art World Activism of 2014

Happy New Year! This is the first post of 2015 and this will be the last nostalgic post for a while (maybe). In the tradition of posting lists of memorable happenings, I wanted to look back at 2014 and examine some of the memorable acts of activism from within the art world.

Suggested Reading: Thankful for Art

I’m thankful for art. It has been the best and most profound way for me to communicate my thoughts, understand issues and the context of the world, and help others. This series of suggested readings before Thanksgiving are a compilation of my love for art and it’s transformative powers; whether serving to directly confront political or social discourse, or express the collective conscious and seeks a better way to interpret and understand each other.  I’m also thankful for all of you for following this blog and contributing your thoughts!

A weekly ensemble of Links – Suggested Reading

– Critic Andrew Russeth has started a column weekly column called “Art of the City”, that looks into the nooks and crannies of NYC’s artworld in search of art that is edgy! Read his first post: “The Golden Spike and New York City’s Robert Smithson Problem”

– There has been a recent wave of Illegal Public Art such as two German artists planting white flags on top of the Brooklyn Bridge, a performance artist targeting the Jeff Koons retrospective at the Whitney, and a group climbing one of Moscow’s “Seven Sister” skyscrapers and planting a Ukrainian flag and painting of the old Soviet star atop the building in Ukraine’s national colors, yellow and blue.  Art critic Peter Schjeldahl proposes calling works/happenings such as these ‘Stunt art.’