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Gay is NOT OK

A work made of chromogenic prints and thread.
Courtesy of the artist and P.P.O.W. Gallery, NY.

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  • A work made of chromogenic prints and thread.

Date:

2011

Artist:

Hunter Reynolds
American, 1959-2022

About this artwork

Hunter Reynolds is among a group of contemporary queer artists who confront the immensity of the AIDS crisis. HIV-positive for three decades, he has explored art as a healing mechanism by employing performance, sculpture, photography, and collage. Here, Reynolds stitched together photographically reproduced newspaper articles from the 1980s on AIDS and gay culture; over this he superimposed images from his earlier works Blood Spots, installations with enlargements of his own blood dropping onto paper, and the Mummification performances, in which he was wrapped with cellophane and tape and left to rest for hours only to later emerge from the mummy skin in a gesture of transformation and resurrection. Although his own body is his primary medium, photography has proven an ideal handmaiden for Reynolds to stitch together memory, loss, resistance, and survival.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Hunter Reynolds

Title

Gay is NOT OK

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 2011

Medium

Chromogenic prints and thread

Dimensions

121.9 × 152.4 cm (48 × 60 in.)

Credit Line

Photography Associates and Bernard Susman Funds

Reference Number

2012.209

Copyright

Courtesy of the artist and P.P.O.W. Gallery, NY.

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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