David Wojnarowicz’s “Sex Series,” consisting of eight black-and-white photomontages, is dedicated to the French filmmaker and close New York compagnion Marion Scemama. Despite the abstracted nature of the main images of the series, they clearly depict powerful motifs that testify to either civilizational strength or natural force. They resemble sharply defined X-ray images, overlaid with circular peepholes that offer glimpses into explicit scenes. Our piece “Untitled” shows the motif of a mangrove forest, with a vignette in the upper right corner depicting two men engaged in rimming. The pornographic imagery derives from the collection of Wojnarowicz’s late mentor, Peter Hujar.
It seems that through his image combinations for the “Sex Series”, artist and activist David Wojnarowicz confronts us with the unvarnished truth: that no one, not even in dominant America of the 1980s and 90s, is immune to the HIV virus. Furthermore, we become witness to his personal pain regarding the marginalization of homosexuality and its devastating effects. By breaking the silence around the AIDS epidemic, which had claimed over 100,000 American lives by 1990, he expresses the fears of the gay community and ensures that his own experiences do not disappear from our cultural memory.
Our print belongs to the estate of the late Berlin curator Frank Wagner and is dedicated to him as an early supporter and significant friend. Wagner played a crucial role in politicizing formerly private issues through his early exhibitions on body politics, gender questions, sexuality, and AIDS. Copies of the “Sex Series” are housed in the collections of numerous institutions, including the MoMA, the Whitney Museum in New York, and the Princeton University Museum, New Jersey. (SaM)
Gelatin silver print. 46,8 × 55,8 cm (50,4 × 60,5 cm)
(18 ⅜ × 22 in. (19 ⅞ × 23 ⅞ in.)). Dedicated, inscribed, signed and dated in black ballpoint pen on the reverse: […] From Sex Series (test proof) David Wojnarowicz 1989 NYC. Trial proof outside the total edition of 12. [3167]
David Wojnarowicz’s “Sex Series,” consisting of eight black-and-white photomontages, is dedicated to the French filmmaker and close New York compagnion Marion Scemama. Despite the abstracted nature of the main images of the series, they clearly depict powerful motifs that testify to either civilizational strength or natural force. They resemble sharply defined X-ray images, overlaid with circular peepholes that offer glimpses into explicit scenes. Our piece “Untitled” shows the motif of a mangrove forest, with a vignette in the upper right corner depicting two men engaged in rimming. The pornographic imagery derives from the collection of Wojnarowicz’s late mentor, Peter Hujar.
It seems that through his image combinations for the “Sex Series”, artist and activist David Wojnarowicz confronts us with the unvarnished truth: that no one, not even in dominant America of the 1980s and 90s, is immune to the HIV virus. Furthermore, we become witness to his personal pain regarding the marginalization of homosexuality and its devastating effects. By breaking the silence around the AIDS epidemic, which had claimed over 100,000 American lives by 1990, he expresses the fears of the gay community and ensures that his own experiences do not disappear from our cultural memory.
Our print belongs to the estate of the late Berlin curator Frank Wagner and is dedicated to him as an early supporter and significant friend. Wagner played a crucial role in politicizing formerly private issues through his early exhibitions on body politics, gender questions, sexuality, and AIDS. Copies of the “Sex Series” are housed in the collections of numerous institutions, including the MoMA, the Whitney Museum in New York, and the Princeton University Museum, New Jersey. (SaM)
