David Wojnarowicz

(American, 1954–1992)

David Wojnarowicz was an American artist and AIDS activist. Throughout his career, he used painting, performance, film, and photography to draw attention to civil rights and gay identity within American popular culture. Many of Wojnarowicz’s projects are drawn from his own life or from individuals he met during his travels: After dropping out of school, Wojnarowicz began hitchhiking across the United States before eventually settling in the New York art scene. While living there with AIDS in the 1980s, he wrote of his art: “I’m in the throes of facing my own mortality and in attempting to communicate what I’m expressing or learning in order to try and help others I am effectively silenced. I am angry.” He is perhaps best known for his black-and-white film A Fire in My Belly (1986–1987) which, 18 years after his death, sparked national controversy. When the piece was exhibited in 2010 at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., protests led by the Catholic League revived a conservative culture war similar to the one that had surrounded photographer Robert Mapplethorpe decades earlier, and brought renewed interest in Wojnarowicz’s life and work. Born on September 14, 1954 in Red Bank, NJ, he grew up partly in New York City, when he returned in the late 1970s and fell in with a group of East Village artists that included Nan Goldin, Kiki Smith, and Peter Hujar, all of whose work explored in on personal identity in various ways. Wojnarowicz's work are in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, among others. The artist died of AIDS at the age of 37 on July 22, 1992 in New York, NY.

David Wojnarowicz News

Art & Exhibitions

More Than 800 Zines Created by Artists From Raymond Pettibon to Miranda July Are Going on View in a Major Museum Show

by Min Chen
More Than 800 Zines Created by Artists From Raymond Pettibon to Miranda July Are Going on View in a Major Museum Show
Art World

‘A Face Is Not Just a Face’: Is It Finally Time for the Gay Gaze of Unsung Portraitist Gilbert Lewis?

by William Van Meter
‘A Face Is Not Just a Face’: Is It Finally Time for the Gay Gaze of Unsung Portraitist Gilbert Lewis?
Politics

Following ACT UP Protest, the Whitney Draws Attention to the Ongoing AIDS Epidemic With a New David Wojnarowicz Wall Text

by Sarah Cascone
Following ACT UP Protest, the Whitney Draws Attention to the Ongoing AIDS Epidemic With a New David Wojnarowicz Wall Text

David Wojnarowicz Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

David Wojnarowicz (249 results)
Dad's Ship, 1984

David Wojnarowicz

Dad's Ship, 1984

Sale Date: December 14, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Buffaloes), 1988

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (Buffaloes), 1988

Sale Date: December 1, 2023

Auction Closed

Sans titre , 1990

David Wojnarowicz

Sans titre , 1990

Sale Date: December 7, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1982

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled, 1982

Sale Date: November 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Sandwich in Suit), 1972

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (Sandwich in Suit), 1972

Sale Date: October 11, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Buffaloes), 1988–1989

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (Buffaloes), 1988–1989

Sale Date: October 6, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Buffaloes), 1988

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (Buffaloes), 1988

Sale Date: August 17, 2023

Auction Closed

Fire & Water, from Four Elements, 1991

David Wojnarowicz

Fire & Water, from Four Elements, 1991

Sale Date: June 21, 2023

Auction Closed

Portrait John Edward Heys, 1985

David Wojnarowicz

Portrait John Edward Heys, 1985

Sale Date: June 10, 2023

Auction Closed

Sans titre , 1990

David Wojnarowicz

Sans titre , 1990

Sale Date: June 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (Time/Money) from the Ant series, 1988–1989

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (Time/Money) from the Ant series, 1988–1989

Sale Date: May 16, 2023

Auction Closed

The Anatomy and Architecture of June 19,..., 1987

David Wojnarowicz

The Anatomy and Architecture of June 19,..., 1987

Sale Date: May 16, 2023

Auction Closed

The Boys Go Off to War, 1983

David Wojnarowicz

The Boys Go Off to War, 1983

Sale Date: May 12, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (from The Metamorphosis series), 1984

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (from The Metamorphosis series), 1984

Sale Date: March 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (USA), 1989

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (USA), 1989

Sale Date: March 15, 2023

Auction Closed

Earth & Wind and Fire & Water, from Four..., 1990

David Wojnarowicz

Earth & Wind and Fire & Water, from Four..., 1990

Sale Date: March 8, 2023

Auction Closed

Untitled (ACT-UP), 1990

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (ACT-UP), 1990

Sale Date: December 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled (Falling Man and Other Stencils), 1982

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (Falling Man and Other Stencils), 1982

Sale Date: December 14, 2022

Auction Closed

Untitled (Crisp Green Cabbage – Supermarket..., 1988

David Wojnarowicz

Untitled (Crisp Green Cabbage – Supermarket..., 1988

Sale Date: December 14, 2022

Auction Closed

He Kept Following Me, 1990

David Wojnarowicz

He Kept Following Me, 1990

Sale Date: December 9, 2022

Auction Closed

Weight of the Earth, Part II, 1988–1989

David Wojnarowicz

Weight of the Earth, Part II, 1988–1989

Sale Date: December 9, 2022

Auction Closed

History Keeps Me Awake at Night (For Rilo..., 1986

David Wojnarowicz

History Keeps Me Awake at Night (For Rilo..., 1986

Sale Date: November 18, 2022

Auction Closed

Tuna, 1983

David Wojnarowicz

Tuna, 1983

Sale Date: November 18, 2022

Auction Closed

Sex Series (For Marion Scemama), 1988–1989

David Wojnarowicz

Sex Series (For Marion Scemama), 1988–1989

Sale Date: November 18, 2022

Auction Closed

English (US)

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