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David Wojnarowicz (September 14, 1954 - July 22, 1992) was a gay
Gay

The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree," "happy," or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
 painter
Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting....
, photographer
Photographer

A photographer is a person who takes a photograph using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment....
, writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
, filmmaker, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 art world of the 1980s.

as born in Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank, New Jersey

The Borough of Red Bank is a Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, New Jersey incorporated in 1908. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough had a population of 11,844....
, and later lived with his mother in New York City, where he attended the High School of Performing Arts
High School of Performing Arts

The High School of Performing Arts, more formally known as The School of Performing Arts: A Division of the Fiorello H La Guardia High School of Music and the Arts, informally known as "PA", was a Public school Alternative school high school in New York City, New York, United States of America that existed from 1948 through 1984....
 for a brief period. From 1970 until 1973, after dropping out of school, he for a time lived on the streets of New York City and worked as a farmer on the Canadian border.

Upon returning to New York City, he saw a particularly prolific period for his artwork from the late 1970s through the 1980s.






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David Wojnarowicz (September 14, 1954 - July 22, 1992) was a gay
Gay

The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree," "happy," or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
 painter
Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting....
, photographer
Photographer

A photographer is a person who takes a photograph using a camera. A professional photographer uses photography to make a living whilst an amateur photographer does not earn a living and typically takes photographs for pleasure and to record an event, place or person for future enjoyment....
, writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
, filmmaker, performance artist, and activist who was prominent in the New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
 art world of the 1980s.

Biography

He was born in Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank, New Jersey

The Borough of Red Bank is a Borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, New Jersey incorporated in 1908. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough had a population of 11,844....
, and later lived with his mother in New York City, where he attended the High School of Performing Arts
High School of Performing Arts

The High School of Performing Arts, more formally known as The School of Performing Arts: A Division of the Fiorello H La Guardia High School of Music and the Arts, informally known as "PA", was a Public school Alternative school high school in New York City, New York, United States of America that existed from 1948 through 1984....
 for a brief period. From 1970 until 1973, after dropping out of school, he for a time lived on the streets of New York City and worked as a farmer on the Canadian border.

Upon returning to New York City, he saw a particularly prolific period for his artwork from the late 1970s through the 1980s. During this period, he made super-8 films
Super 8 mm film

Super 8 mm film, also simply called Super 8, is a film film formats released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older 8 mm film home movies format, and the Cine 8 format....
, such as Heroin, began a photographic series of Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud

Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French people poet, born in Charleville-M?zi?res. As part of the decadent movement, his influence on modern literature, music and art has been enduring and pervasive....
, did stencil
Stencil

A stencil is a wikt:template used to drawing or painting identical Letter , symbols, shapes, or patterns every time it is used. Stencil technique in visual art is also referred to as pochoir....
 work, played in a band called 3 Teens Kill 4
3 Teens Kill 4

3TK4 was a musical group based in the East Village of New York City in the 1980s. They are most notable for featuring David Wojnarowicz, a famous artist, as a member....
, and exhibited his work in well-known East Village
East Village, Manhattan

The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It lies east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy, Manhattan and Peter Cooper Village?Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side, Manhattan....
 galleries.

In 1985, he was included in the Whitney Biennial, the so-called Graffiti Show. In the 1990s, he fought and successfully issued an injunction against Donald Wildmon
Donald Wildmon

Donald E. Wildmon is the founder and chairman of the American Family Association....
 and the American Family Association
American Family Association

The American Family Association is a 501#501 non-profit organization that promotes Christian right values. It was founded in 1977 by Rev. Donald Wildmon as the National Federation for Decency and is headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, Mississippi....
 on the grounds that Wojnarowicz's work had been copied and distorted in violation of the New York Artists' Authorship Rights Act.

Wojnarowicz died of AIDS
AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
 on July 22, 1992. His personal papers are part of the Downtown Collection held by the Fales Library
Fales Library

The Fales Library, comprising nearly 200,000 volumes, and of archive and manuscript materials, houses the Fales Collection of rare books and manuscripts in English and American literature, the Downtown Collection, and the general Special Collections from the New York University Libraries....
 at New York University
New York University

New York University is a private university, nonsectarian, research university in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan....
.

Books

  • Close to the Knives: A Memoir of Disintegration. (1991). Vintage Books.
  • Tongues Of Flame
  • Memories That Smell Like Gasoline.
  • The Waterfront Journals. (1997). Grove/Atlantic.
  • Rimbaud In New York 1978 - 1979. (with Andrew Roth)
  • In the Shadow of the American Dream: The Diaries of David Wojnarowicz (Amy Scholder, editor)
  • Willie World (illustrator; written by Maggie J. Dubris)


Films

  • Postcards From America - a non-linear biography of David Wojnarowicz (Steve McLean, director)


Critical studies and adaptations

  • David Wojnarowicz: Brush Fires in the Social Landscape. (1995). Aperture.
  • Wojnarowicz, David, Romberger, James, and Van Cook, Marguerite. Seven Miles a Second. (1996). DC Comics. (Autobiographical comic book
    Autobiographical comics

    Autobiographical comics are autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comics movement and has since become more widespread....
     partly scripted by Wojnarowicz, partly adapted posthumously from his diaries.)
  • Wojnarowicz, David, et al., ed. Amy Scholder. Fever: The Art of David Wojnarowicz. (1999). New Museum Books.
  • David Wojnarowicz : A Definitive History of Five or Six Years on the Lower East Side, interviews by Sylvère Lotringer, edited by Giancarlo Ambrosino (2006).


External links

  • at Fales Library, New York University.
  • published at Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine
    Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine

    Launched from the Lower East Side, Manhattan in 1983 as a subscription only bimonthly publication, the Tellus cassette series took full advantage of the popular cassette medium to promote cutting-edge downtown music, documenting the New York scene and advancing experimental composers of the time ? the first 2 issues being devoted to NY arti...