the art of AIDS
AIDS/ART/WORK Themes and Speakers
* Click on the title of the panel to listen to the presentations
Panel 1. An 'AIDS Art' Movement?
How did AIDS change the Visual Arts (and the history of Visual Art)? Is there such a thing as an AIDS art aesthetic and if so how has it changed over time? What is the relationship between so-called avant-garde or conceptual art and representational art within the framework of 'AIDS art'? Do we evaluate art whose purpose is to educate about, or prevent, HIV/AIDS differently from art that doesn't have 'utility'? Is 'AIDS art' beyond criticism?
Speakers:
Robert Atkins, writer and critic, co-founder of Visual AIDS
Alexandra Juhasz, Professor of Media Studies, Pitzer College
David Román, Professor of English and American Studies, University of Southern California
Panel 2. Art and Activism in the Age of AIDS
What part have AIDS-inspired artists played in stimulating political change? Is there a continuing disjuncture between 'militant' art and work that expresses grief and loss? As grassroots responses to AIDS became institutionalised, what happened to the art? Is the institution (i.e. the museum, the university, the archive) the new movement? How do younger artists engage with the legacy of 'AIDS art' and activism?
Speakers:
Richard Sawdon-Smith, artist and Deputy Head, University College for the Creative Arts, UK
Julia Bryan-Wilson, Department of Art History, University of California, Irvine
Derek Jackson, artist
Jean Carlomusto, artist and Professor of Media Art, Long Island University
Panel 3. Can Art Save Lives?: Collaborations and Possibilities
What role can artists play in health promotion and HIV/AIDS prevention? Have the collaborations between artists, activists and health promoters been successful? How do we define effectiveness in cultural production-based prevention? What threats remain and what work still needs to be done?
Speakers:
Paul Sendziuk, University of Adelaide, Australia
Patrick "Pato" Hebert, Associate Director of Education, AIDS Project Los Angeles
David Gere, curator, critic and Director of Art|Global Health Center, UCLA
Final Roundtable
What kind of AIDS-related art work is being done and exhibited now? How have artists in other countries, such as South Africa, responded to the epidemic? Can artists continue to play a role in health promotion and HIV/AIDS prevention?
Panelists:
Marilyn Martin, Director of Art Collections, Iziko Museums of Cape Town, South Africa
Jim Hubbard, co-founder MIX NYC
Edwin Ramoran, Director of Exhibitions and Programs, Aljira
Ivan Monforte, artist
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Photographs from AIDS/ART/WORK
Listen to the papers that were presented (available shortly)
