“A sharp protest in the noise”
“Marit Östberg on David Wojnarowicz-the exhibition in Berlin”
“It took more than a quarter of a century for David Wojnarowicz to get the acknowledgment he deserves as an artist. When he died in 1992, he left behind an impressive collection of films, texts, photographs, paintings, collage, music, and sculptures. Shortly after the Whitney museum in New York made a large exhibition of Wojnarowicz’s collected works focuses Kunstwerke in Berlin this spring on his photographs and films (in progress t o m 5 may).”
“nHittills he has, rightly, most been honored as the protestkonstnär during the 80’s Reaganregering and aidskris. He was one of those razor-sharp voice that makes us stop and listen in the noise, as saw the system in the face and responded with a tireless logic.”
“Wojnarowicz was angry, and anger shaped he to cutting and sensitive aesthetics and skamlöshet. The politicians handled the aids epidemic with homophobia, racism and class hatred, which led to the mass – Wojnarowicz friends and lovers died at his side. He responded by beating up the doors to New York’s gritty cruisingstråk and make intimacy between men into something romantically beautiful.”
“Heroin use and recognise the violence within the system of heteronormative the house’s four walls are other themes that unravels in his art. One of his most acclaimed works is a series of photographs on the lover Peter Hujar in the hospital bed, just after Hujar passed away. A couple of these can be seen at the KW in Berlin, along with 150 other photographs and movies.”
“It also shows a brand new documentary by Wojnarowicz kamerakvinna Marion Scemama. Her Self-portrait in 23 rounds: a chapter in David Wojnarowicz’s life, 1989-1991 contributes a further dimensions in Wojnarowicz’s oeuvre. For example, it provides us a picture of how her kamerahand helped to reinforce his beautiful and penetrating images.”
“nWojnarowicz deserve to be hailed as a great artist. It is enough to read his collected essays Close to the knives to be enchanted by his handling of language and images. He goes from high to low in the same sentence, taking us from the semen and blood to the political analyses in the same breath.”
“Words and images that flows and helps us to grasp reality in a world that is both open but also, still, brutally closes for queer bodies. He teaches us to mourn, to be angry, and to be proud in death.”