On December 1, 2016, as part of the yearly nationwide “a Day With(out) Art” the gallery will screen COMPULSIVE PRACTICE, an hour-long presentation curated by Visual AIDS. COMPULSIVE PRACTICE will be looped continuously in the Gallery from 10:00am to 8:00pm.
Day Without Art launched on December 1, 1989 as “a day of action and mourning” in which thousands of arts institutions and organizations around the world unified together to demonstrate the power of art to raise awareness of the ongoing AIDS pandemic. In 1998, for its 10th anniversary, Day Without Art became Day With(out) Art. Visual AIDS added the parentheses to highlight the ongoing inclusion of art projects focused on the AIDS pandemic, and to encourage programming of artists living with HIV.
For the 2016 Day With(out) Art, December 1, 2016, Visual AIDS presents COMPULSIVE PRACTICE, a video compilation of compulsive, daily, and habitual practices by nine artists and activists who live with their cameras and have been deeply affected by HIV/AIDS. This hour-long video program has been distributed internationally to museums, art institutions, schools and AIDS service organizations.
From video diaries to civil disobedience, holiday specials and backstage antics, Betamax to YouTube, COMPULSIVE PRACTICE displays a diversity of artistic approaches, experiences, and expectations. The compulsive video practices of these artists serve many purposes—cure, treatment, outlet, lament, documentation, communication—and have many tones—obsessive, driven, poetic, neurotic, celebratory. COMPULSIVE PRACTICE will demonstrate the place of technology, self-expression, critique, and community in the many decades and the many experiences of artists and activists living with AIDS.
COMPULSIVE PRACTICE is curated by Jean Carlomusto, Alexandra Juhasz, and Hugh Ryan. Participating video makers and artists include James Wentzy, Nelson Sullivan (1948-1989), Ray Navarro (1964-1990), Carol Leigh aka Scarlot Harlot, Juanita Mohammed, Luna Luis Ortiz, Mark S. King, Justin B. Terry-Smith, and the Southern AIDS Living Quilt.
Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over.
More information is available on the Visual AIDs website.