1989—CENSORSHIP | The David Wojnarowicz Foundation

Untitled (Sex Series), 1989. Gelatin silver print, 16 × 20 in.

In 1989, David creates new work and mounts his largest solo show, “In the Shadow of Forward Motion,” at P·P·O·W gallery early in the year. He begins creating work in the darkroom of Peter Hujar’s loft including his Sex Series which draws the ire of conservative clergy and congressmen. Suddenly, he is caught up in the right-wing criticism of the National Endowment of the Arts for funding artists like himself, Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano. David’s essay “Post Cards from America: X-Rays from Hell” for the Artists Space exhibition catalog “Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing,” organized by Nan Goldin also draws fire. He is featured in Rosa von Praunheim and Phil Zwickler’s film Silence = Death about the AIDS crisis in New York. His friend Cookie Mueller and her husband Vitorio Scarpati both die of AIDS-related illness.

Explore the images below to learn more about David’s turbulent life in 1989.

January 1989: Threatened with Eviction

1989: Dr. Fauci Calls for Use of Experimental Drugs to Treat HIV

David Wojnarowicz, Untitled (Buffalos), 1988–89. Gelatin silver print, 19 7/8 × 23 15/16 in.

1988-89: David creates “Untitled (Buffalos)”

1988-89 My Father Was a Sailor

Anatomy and Architecture of Desire 1988 - 1989

1988-89: Anatomy and Architecture of Desire

February 8 1989: Opens “In the Shadow of Forward Motion” at P·P·O·W

1989: opens largest solo show at P·P·O·W

1988-1989: Where I’ll Go After I’m Gone

1988-89: Untitled (Hujar Dead)

1988-89: Ant Series

March 9 1989: Robert Mapplethorpe dies of AIDS, age 42

April 1989: David appears in film Silence = Death

April 1989: Donald Wildmon Questions NEA Funding

1989: creates Silence=Death image with Andreas Sterzing

What is this little guy's job in the world 1990

July 5, 1989: Creates “What’s This Little Guy’s Job in the World?”

July 26 1989: Americans with Disabilities Act becomes law

September 1989: Writes “Post Cards from America: X-Rays from Hell”

September 1989: David creates “Fear of Disclosure” film with Phil Zwickler

September 14, 1989: Vitorio Scarpati Dies of AIDS, Age 43

Bad Moon Rising, 1989. Four black-and-white photographs, acrylic, string, and collage on Masonite, 37 × 36 1/2 in.

1989: Bad Moon Rising

David Wojnarowicz photos of posters he created for Washington D.C. womens march organized by the National Organization for Women, 1989. Courtesy The David Wojnarowicz Papers in The Downtown Collection courtesy Fales Library and Collections, New York University.

1989: David attends womens march in Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. 1989: David was a strong supporter of women’s rights. In 1989, he marched on Washington DC with the National Organization for Women (NOW) accompanied by his partner Tom Rauffenbart and friends like Anita Vitale (now Board Chair of The Foundation). They joined hundreds of thousands of demonstrators protesting reproductive rights cases pending before the Supreme Court and the Reagan-Bush administration’s threat to reverse Roe v. Wade.