This is an image of the “Pier 34” show. Guerrilla art shows that took place in unused City of NY buildings such as the “Real Estate Show,” or the “Times Square Show” that was held in an abandoned massage parlor, are examples of art collectives creating alternatives to the staid, exclusionary spaces of museums and galleries. They took the concept a step further with shows that were intentionally disposable, often leaving the artwork behind to be destroyed with the condemned buildings. The “Pier 34” show, organized by David Wojnarowicz and Mike Bidlo, was the apex of this artistic protest, with the murals, stencil, and graffiti paintings literally crumbling into the Hudson River as the decayed waterfront was left to rot by a corrupt and indifferent city government. This photograph offers one of the few examples that remain of Wojnarowicz’s amazing contribution to the exhibition.

This photograph is signed and stamped by Hujar on the verso as described above, and comes from the estate of Keith Davis, an artist from the Lower East Side who was also known as a commercial artist that worked for Artforum as well as MoMA. Davis employed Wojnarowicz and Hujar on occasional projects to help them subsist. He died in 1987. Keith Davis was the first person Wojnarowicz witnessed dying from AIDS which he writes about in his memoir, In the Shadow of the American Dream. It comes from the friend of Keith’s who holds his archive. This was a gift from Hujar to Davis.