HIV/AIDS has touched nearly every American in some way. Tacoma Art Museum is proud to  present Art AIDS America, a groundbreaking exhibition that underscores the deep and unforgettable presence of HIV in American art. More than ten years in the making, the exhibition of 120 works is now on view at  TAM through January 10, 2016.

Since its discovery, AIDS has shaped art, politics, medicine, and pop culture. This is the first comprehensive overview exclusively focused on 30 years of art made in response to the epidemic in the United States, and the impact on the development of American art as a whole. It introduces and explores the whole spectrum of artistic responses to AIDS, from the politically outspoken to the quietly mournful, surveying works from the early 1980s to the present.

Approximately every 10 minutes someone becomes infected with HIV.

Featured Artists

ACT UP NY/Gran Fury
Active New York, New York, 1987–1995

John Arsenault
Born Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1971

Shimon Attie
Born Los Angeles, California, 1957

Eric Avery
Born Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1948

Luis Cruz Azaceta
Born Havana, Cuba, 1942

David Binder
Born Flint, Michigan, 1961

Nayland Blake
Born New York, New York, 1960

Robert Blanchon
Born Boston, Massachusetts, 1965
Died Chicago, Illinois, 1999

Ross Bleckner
Born New York, New York, 1949

Brian Buczak
Born Detroit, Michigan, 1954
Died New York, New York, 1987

Scott Burton
Born Greensboro, Alabama, 1939
Died New York, New York, 1989

Jerome Caja
Born Cleveland, Ohio, 1958
Died San Francisco, California, 1995

Mark I. Chester
Born Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1950

Judy Chicago
Born Chicago, Illinois, 1939

Sue Coe
Born Tamworth, Staffordshire, England, 1951

Arch Connelly
Born Chicago, Illinois, 1950
Died New York, New York, 1993

Ryan Conrad
Born Newport, Rhode Island, 1983

David Cannon Dashiell
Born Tokyo, Japan, 1952
Died San Francisco, California, 1993

Niki de Saint Phalle
Born Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 1930
Died San Diego, California, 2002

Jimmy DeSana
Born Detroit, Michigan, 1949
Died New York, New York, 1990

John Dugdale
Born Stamford, Connecticut, 1960

Chloe Dzubilo
Born Middletown, Connecticut, 1960
Died New York, New York, 2011

Michael Ehle
Born Salinas, California, 1953
Died Seattle, Washington, 1999

Joy Episalla
Born Bronxville, New York, 1957

Robert Farber
Born Hartsdale, New York, 1948
Died New York, New York, 1995

Tony Feher
Born Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1956

fierce pussy
Formed New York, New York, 1991

Karen Finley
Born Chicago, Illinois, 1956

Louise Fishman
Born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1939

General Idea
Active 1969–1994

Robert Gober
Born Wallingford, Connecticut, 1954

Nan Goldin
Born Washington, DC, 1953

Daniel Goldstein
Born Mount Vernon, New York, 1950

Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Born Guí¡imaro, Cuba, 1957
Died Miami, Florida, 1996

Keith Haring
Born Reading, Pennsylvania, 1958
Died New York, New York, 1990

Thomas Haukaas
Born San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1950
Tribal affiliation: Sicangu Lakota

Jim Hodges
Born Spokane, Washington, 1957

Jenny Holzer
Born Gallipolis, Ohio, 1950

Jonathan Horowitz
Born New York, New York, 1966

Peter Hujar
Born Trenton, New Jersey, 1934
Died New York, New York, 1987

Derek Jackson
Born Boston, Massachusetts, 1972

Bill Jacobson
Born Norwich, Connecticut, 1955

Jasper Johns
Born Augusta, Georgia, 1930

Ray Johnson
Born Detroit, Michigan, 1927
Died Sag Harbor, New York, 1995

Deborah Kass
Born San Antonio, Texas, 1952

Barbara Kruger
Born Newark, New Jersey, 1945

Kia Labeija
Born New York, New York, 1990

LADZ (John Arsenault and Adrian Gilliland)
John Arsenault, Born Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1971
Adrian Gilliland, Born Douglas, Arizona, 1980

David Lebe
Born New York, New York, 1948

Charles LeDray
Born Seattle, Washington, 1960

Annie Leibovitz
Born Waterbury, Connecticut, 1949

Rudy Lemcke
Born St. Louis, Missouri, 1951

Keith Lewis
Born Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, 1959

Edward Lightner
Born Bakersfield, California, 1960

Glenn Ligon
Born Bronx, New York, 1960

Kalup Linzy
Born Stuckey, Florida, 1977

Patte Loper
Born Denver, Colorado, 1967

Robert Mapplethorpe
Born Floral Park, New York, 1946
Died Boston, Massachusetts, 1989

Marlene McCarty
Born Lexington, Kentucky, 1957

Thomas McGovern
Born Kansas City, Missouri, 1957

Ann P. Meredith
Born Hot Springs, Arkansas, 1948

Duane Michals
Born McKeesport, Pennsylvania, 1932

Steven Miller
Born Tucson, Arizona, 1968

Donald Moffett
Born San Antonio, Texas, 1955

Frank Moore
Born New York, New York, 1953
Died New York, New York, 2002

Mark Morrisroe
Born Malden, Massachusetts, 1959
Died New York, New York, 1989

The NAMES Project Foundation
Established 1987

Ray Navarro
Ray Navarro, Born 1964, Died New York, New York, 1990
Fabricated by Zoe Leonard
Zoe Leonard, Born Liberty, New York, 1961

Alice O’Malley
Born Buffalo, New York, 1962

Catherine Opie
Born Sandusky, Ohio, 1961

Izhar Patkin
Born Haifa, Israel, 1955

Jack Pierson
Born Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1960

Lari Pittman
Born Los Angeles, California, 1952

William Powhida
Born New York, New York, 1976

Jesse Finley Reed
Born Duxbury, Massachusetts, 1974

Brett Reichman
Born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1959

Alon Reininger
Born Tel Aviv, Israel, 1947

Hunter Reynolds
Born Rochester, Minnesota, 1959

Eric Rhein
Born Cincinnati, Ohio, 1961

Tino Rodriguez
Born Ciudad Obregí³n, Sonora, Mexico, 1965

Adam Rolston
Born Los Angeles, California, 1962

Dean Sameshima
Born Torrance, California, 1971

Andres Serrano
Born New York, New York, 1950

Robert Sherer
Born Jasper, Alabama, 1957

Pacifico Silano
Born Brooklyn, New York, 1986

Kiki Smith
Born Nuremberg, Germany, 1954

Rosalind Solomon
Born Highland Park, Illinois, 1930

Larry Stanton
Born Rockville Centre, New York, 1947
Died New York, New York, 1984

Hugh Steers
Born Washington, DC, 1962
Died New York, New York, 1995

Ferenc Suto
Born Easton, Connecticut, 1960

Carl Tandatnick
Born New York, New York, 1956

Masami Teraoka
Born Onomichi, Japan, 1936

Joey Terrill
Born Los Angeles, California, 1955

Paul Thek
Born Brooklyn, New York, 1933
Died New York, New York, 1988

Julie Tolentino
Born San Francisco, California, 1964

Boris Torres
Born Pií±as, Ecuador, 1976

Anthony Viti
Born Rochester, New York, 1961

Darren Waterston
Born Fresno, California, 1965

Patrick Webb
Born New York, New York, 1955

Albert J. Winn
Born Chester, Pennsylvania, 1947
Died Los Angeles, California 2014

David Wojnarowicz
Born Red Bank, New Jersey, 1954
Died New York, New York, 1992

Martin Wong
Born Portland, Oregon, 1946
Died San Francisco, California, 1999

Thomas Woodruff
Born New Rochelle, New York, 1954

Carrie Yamaoka
Born Glen Cove, New York, 1957

 

Art AIDS America is organized by Tacoma Art Museum in partnership with The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and co-curated by Jonathan David Katz, Director, Visual Studies Doctoral Program at the University at Buffalo (The State University of New York), and Rock Hushka, Chief Curator at Tacoma Art Museum. Generous support provided  by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, and Gilead Sciences, Inc. The presentation of the preview exhibition Art AIDS America  was made possible  by the City of West Hollywood and The David Geffen Foundation.

Image credits (top to bottom): Shimon Attie, Untitled Memory (projection of Axel H.), 1998. Ektacolor photograph, edition 1 of 3, 32 í— 38.75 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.  Bill Jacobson, Interim Portrait #373, 1992. Chromogenic color print, 24 í— 20 inches. Courtesy of the artist.