the art of AIDS

Albert J. Winn

 

Al Winn's writing and photographic work is primarily autobiographical and addresses issues of identity, especially as it relates to religion, ethnicity, gender or sexuality and how each informs the other in a context of illness, personal relationships and memory. He received a National Endowment for the Arts / Western States Arts Federation Fellowship in 1993 for a collection of photographs and stories titled My Life Until, which dealt with his life as a gay Jewish man living with HIV/AIDS. He received a fellowship from the Memorial Foundation of Jewish Culture in 2000, was an artist-in-residence at Blue Mountain Center in Blue Mountain, NY, and an Artist-in-Residence at Light Work, in Syracuse, New York. 

 

Al is the creator of Blood on the Doorpost: The AIDS Mezuzah which was installed at the Judah L. Magnus Museum in Berkeley for World AIDS Day in 1996.  More recent work includes the Band Aids and Summer Camp series of photographs.

 

Al's work is in the permanent collections of The Library of Congress, The Jewish Museum (New York City), the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Light Work (Syracuse University), and the Visual AIDS Archive (NYC). Selected one person shows include 'Only Skin Deep' at The International Center for Photography (NYC), The Jewish Museum (New York), Metro Center for the Arts (Denver), Film in the Cities (Minneapolis), ARC Gallery (Chicago) and the Photographic Resource Center (Boston). 

 

Al received his MFA in Photography from California Institute of the Arts, an MA from the University of Florida, and a BS from Pennsylvania State University. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is a part time faculty member at Cal Arts, The Oakwood School, Moorpark College, and College of the Canyons.

 

Further information about Al Winn and his most recent work and exhibitions can be found at his official website:  http://www.albertjwinn.com.