This Saturday (14 September) would have been the late artist and activist David Wojnarowicz’s 70th birthday. To mark the occasion, several New York City institutions are teaming up with the artist’s foundation, Visual Aids and the gallery PPOW (which represents his estate) for a weekend of celebrations in the city Wojnarowicz called home. The artist died of Aids in 1992, aged 37.
On Friday (13 September), the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LLMA) is hosting a sold-out evening of readings and performances in Wojnarowicz’s honour. Each and Every Gesture Carries a Reverberation will feature the artist’s friends and supporters reading from his various writings (both famous and lesser-known) and a screening of Wojnarowicz’s ITSOFOMO, accompanied by a live performance by the musician Ben Neill, who composed the 1989 film’s original score.
For those who missed their chance for tickets to the LLMA event, ITSOFOMO is also screening at the Museum of Modern Art on Saturday afternoon (14 September)—albeit sans Neill’s accompaniment. Five other works will also be shown, including the artist’s slideshow Arthur Rimbaud in New York (1978-79) and his film A Fire in My Belly, Work in Progress (1986-87).
Capping off the weekend on Saturday evening (14 September) will be a staging of Wojnarowicz’s The Waterfront Journals monologues at the New York City Aids Memorial in Greenwich Village. The band Rimbaud Hattie will accompany the readings—its members used to play with Wojnarowicz in the band 3 Teens Kill 4 in the 1980s. A candlelit procession will follow the performance, ending at the LGBTQ Memorial in Hudson River Park.