The deaths of many male artists in New York City in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s proved devastating for not just the closely knit artists community there but also for art in general. The list is endless, but the most famous were Keith Haring and Robert Mapplethorpe (both died of AIDS), Jean-Michel Basquiat (herion overdose) and David Wojnarowicz (also AIDS).
A new documentary – Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker is a long awaited portrait of the artist who died at the young age of 37 in 1992. Wojnariwicz was a multi-media artist, writer, photographer – a man of many talents. And while he became famous late in his life, his radical art lives on way past his death, and still does.
HIV and AIDS became the focal point of his art, while his work waged war against the establishment’s indifference to the plague, and he made headlines, most of the time the headlines were attacking his work. As his gay male friends were dying all around him (photographer Peter Hujar was one of them), Wojnarowicz cranked it up and became as radical as ever, with some of his anger and rage stemming from the abusive relationship he suffered at the hands of his father when he was growing up. His anger and rage intensified after he was diagnosed with the devastating illness, and he fought and fought until the very end.
Wojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker includes exclusive access to his breathtaking body of work – including paintings, journals, and films – reveals how Wojnarowicz emptied his life into his art and activism. Rediscovered answering machine tape recordings and intimate recollections from Fran Lebowitz, Gracie Mansion, Hujar, and other friends and family help present a stirring portrait of this fiercely political, unapologetically queer artist.
Directed by Emmy-winning director Chris McKim – and produced by Chris and award-winning WORLD OF WONDER’s (RuPaul’s Drag Race) Randy Barbato & Fenton Bailey – it’s an eye-opening documentary about the man many of us don’t know much about.
Now available through
Kino Marquee virtual cinemas