Emily Wells courtesy Rachel Stern
In her 2022 album, Regards to the End, composer Emily Wells dedicates several songs to artists Kiki Smith, Peter Hujar and David Wojnarowicz (among other luminaries).
The album’s songs transfix listeners with an ethereal mix of vocals, synths, drums, piano, string and wind instruments. Each appears to be a bridge between the early 1980s and the 2020s—teasing out connections between life during the AIDS crisis and the looming climate crisis of today.
Specifically, Wells seems to asks, how do young artists living at the intersection of art and activism go about living their daily lives with purpose? How do they embrace their creative practice in the face of an existential threat?
Listen to The David Wojnarowicz Foundation’s conversation with Emily Wells, below.
