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David Wojnarowicz Paintings

American, 1954-1992

David Wojnarowicz was an author, poet, photographer, musician, filmmaker and painter whose work as an AIDS activist influenced his visionary and revolutionary art. Personal experiences of disenfranchisement and the stories of people he met living on the margins of society informed the narratives of his work, with identity, sexuality and a bristling against political structures all contributing to its visceral edge. Wojnarowicz unapologetically channeled his anger at the injustices exacted on minorities and alternative lifestyles through repressive governments and financial systems into his paintings, prints, collages and photography.

Wojnarowicz was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 1954. He had a tumultuous childhood, dropping out of high school and living on the streets by the time he was 16. He spent much of his youth hitchhiking, spending time in San Francisco and then Paris.

Wojnarowicz moved to New York’s East Village in 1978, where he began exhibiting his art, which he frequently made from found materials. He became a central figure in the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s, refusing to censor his work, which often forthrightly reflected his queer sexuality and his fury at the conservative establishment. Particularly after the death of his lover Peter Hujar in 1987, he concentrated on the government’s political inaction during the AIDS crisis. As he wrote in his 1991 memoir, Close to the Knives, “To make the private into something public is an action that has terrific repercussions.”

Wojnarowicz died in 1992 from complications due to AIDS. His art is in major collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Tate Modern and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, which has championed LGBTQ+ artists such as Wojnarowicz for decades. In 2018, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York held a retrospective of his work. 

Find David Wojnarowicz mixed media works, paintings, photography and other art on 1stDibs.

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Artist: David Wojnarowicz
Falling Man and Statue of Liberty
By David Wojnarowicz
Located in New York, NY
Collaboration between David Wojnarowicz and Jane Bauman Contact gallery for price. This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

1980s Street Art David Wojnarowicz Paintings

Materials

Paper, Spray Paint

Trial Run of "Burning House"
By David Wojnarowicz
Located in New York, NY
Spray paint on paper Contact gallery for price This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

1980s Contemporary David Wojnarowicz Paintings

Materials

Paper, Spray Paint

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David Wojnarowicz paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic David Wojnarowicz paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by David Wojnarowicz in paint, paper, spray paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1980s and is mostly associated with the street art style. Not every interior allows for large David Wojnarowicz paintings, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Jane Bauman, Shepard Fairey, and Alex Reagan.

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