
This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.
[[left margin]] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Table of Contents Acknowledgements by Susan Wyatt...p.2 In the Valley of the Shadow by Nan Goldin...p.4 Post Cards from America: X-Rays from Hell by David Wojnarowicz...p.6 Et Tu Brute? by Linda Yablonsky...p.12 A Last Letter by Cookie Mueller...p.14 Artists' Work...p.16-31 About Artists Space...p.32 2 [[/left margin]] It gives me great pleasure that ARTISTS SPACE is presenting Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing. Since we initially approached Nan Goldin about working with us, the exhibition has evolved and become more inclusive and, at the same time, more personal. Goldin has selected a group of artists, her friends, who have all shared the experience of living and working together on Manhattan's Lower East Side over a period of time during which the AIDS epidemic began to surface and destroy that particular community of artists. The ravaging effects of the disease on this group of people is only representative of the larger cultural context in which we must all face not only the immediate crisis of funding, health care, education and awareness, but life in our community with AIDS. The work of the artists in this exhibition is a kind of testimony of survival, of keeping the faith despite the insidious nature of the disease and the prejudice surrounding it. Nan Goldin is a photographer who has made her life and community the subject of her own work. Her committment not only to her own work in the face of the devastation of her community by AIDS, but to the lives of these artists and to the persistence of their work is remarkable and an inspiration. She has been a pleasure to work with and I would like to thank her for her diligence and the truly important vision she has realized in Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing. On her behalf I would like to thank Vince Aletti, David Armstrong, Barbara Barg, Scott Brown, Tom Chesley, Sara Driver, Adam Engel, Allen Frame, Tim Guest, Pat Hearn, Marvin Heiferman, Jim Jarmusch, Stephen Koch, Ramsey McPhillips, Bill Stelling, Brent Sycamore, Shellburne Thurber, and Roger Weiss for their assistance in various aspects of the exhibition. I am also grateful to David Wojnarowicz, Linda Yablonsky and Cookie Mueller for their moving contributions to this catalogue. Their words add a great deal to our experience of viewing the exhibition and potently express the loss and rage many feel as they face AIDS. Though strong language and opinions which may be offensive to some are expressed, we at ARTISTS [[end page]] [[start page]] SPACE believe that not only do these views have a right to be heard, but that also they act as a powerful accompaniment to the visual works. While we recognize that in some cases the opinions and language contained in this publication could be difficult for some adults to confront, and may not be appropriate for children, we believe it is important to present them unedited. Though ARTISTS SPACE and its Board of Directors may not necessarily agree with all the statements made here, we continue to strongly advocate for our role as a forum for a broad range of aesthetic and social ideas vital to the dialogue which enriches contemporary culture. We have represented each of the individuals involved, whether an artist, writer or curator, as they saw fit in order to ensure the validity of this dialogue. While we recognize the purity and blatancy of this approach may cause controversy, that is not our intention. Rather, we are striving for an honest delineation of strongly held opinion and artistic representation regarding a disease which has significantly affected the arts, our immediate community and our entire society. I would like to add a note of special thanks to the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation for its generous support of this publication. It is particularly moving for us at ARTISTS SPACE, having had the good fortune in 1985 to show the work of artists selected by Robert Mapplethorpe (one of whom is in this exhibition) and having worked with him on their presentation, to now be able to have his name and vision associated with Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing. It is worthy of note that this publication was not funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and, as they have requested, I would like to make clear that the opinions, findings and recommendations expressed herein do not reflect their views. In my opinion, we can be truly appreciative of the Endowment's ability, since its founding, to support quality exhibitions which deal with the social themes that contemporary artists face, and to bring a broad range of artistic ideas to the American public. I believe that this approach has reinforced those values which we as Americans cherish. We risk controversy daily by our belief in free speech and expression, and the Endowment's capacity to take this same important risk is now being severely tested and, seems to me, to be among the best arguments we can make for their continued support by the American taxpayer. I am also particularly pleased that this exhibition comes at a time when arts organizations all across the country will be addressing AIDS through VISUAL AIDS' "A Day Without Art." ARTISTS SPACE is proud to participate and, on December 1, 1989, our doors will close as we mourn those who have died of AIDS. Finally, my thanks go to the artists whose powerful works have made this exhibition a truly urgent and important statement. SUSAN WYATT Executive Director