AIDS and Representation

How might artists choose to represent themselves before their own death? What visual language can possibly convey the experience of living with a stigmatic and life-threatening condition that was misunderstood and a source of hysterical fear and revulsion? How might an artist respond to the loss of a loved one under such circumstances, and how can art transform private grief into an act of political engagement? In AIDS and Representation, Fiona Johnstone argues that the epidemic necessitated a radical new approach to conceptualising and visualising the human body. In the early years of the crisis the photographic portrait emerged as the predominant response and established the normative imagery of AIDS victims' and heroes'. In response, the artists explored in this book, such as Nan Goldin, David Wojnarowicz and Felix Gonzalez-Torres offered a more nuanced consideration of their own condition and that of others. They rejected stereotypical direct depiction to produce imaginative self-portraits that constituted profoundly moving personal narratives and penetrating critiques into the visual politics of an epidemic.