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.
Price Upon Request
Untitled (Arthur Rimbaud in Paris)
By David Wojnarowicz
Located in New York, NY
David Wojnarowicz Untitled (Arthur Rimbaud in Paris) 1980/2023 Estate stamped, verso Archival pigment print (Edition of 100) 6.16 x 4.125 inches, image 10 x 8 inches, sheet Con...
Archival Pigment
Price Upon Request
Untitled (Buffaloes), Black and White Photograph by David Wojnarowicz
By David Wojnarowicz
Located in New York, NY
Untitled (Buffaloes), Photograph by David Wojnarowicz 1988/1994 Estate stamp in black ink, vesro Also initialed “TWR” and numbered in black ink, vesro Platinum print (Edition of 10...
Platinum
Price Upon Request
Rimbaud in New York
By David Wojnarowicz
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 6) Estate stamped in black ink, verso Also initialed "TWR" and numbered in pencil, verso This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York...
Silver Gelatin
President JFK in the Oval Office
By Jacques Lowe
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Jacques Lowe, (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) German-born American photogr...
Silver Gelatin
$5,000
H 11 in W 14 in
"First day in Office" President John F. Kennedy, The Oval Office, Washington D.C
By Jacques Lowe
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Jacques Lowe, (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) (born Jan. 24, 1930, Cologne, Ger.—died May 12, 2001, New York, N.Y.) German-born American photogr...
Silver Gelatin
$1,400
H 11 in W 15.25 in D 0.01 in
Like a Woman's Back - Black and White Photograph, Landscape, Ocean, Waves, Sea
Located in Denton, TX
Like a Woman's Back by Ron Cowie is a limited edition black and white photograph of the ocean, with waves stretching up to the shore under a dark, cloudy sky. Platinum Print Image s...
Platinum
Caviar Girls, Nude, Fine Art Photography
By Marc Lagrange
Located in München, BY
Images size 55 x 70 cm Limited Edition of 12 Platinum Print Framed with Wengé and Passepartout Framed Size 92 x 112 cm Signed on a label and a certificate of authenticity Evocative,...
Platinum
Norman Parkinson 'Twiggy, British Vogue, 1967'
By Norman Parkinson
Located in New York, NY
Twiggy, British Vogue, 1967. Twiggy, British Vogue, 1967 Silver gelatin print Estate stamped and numbered edition of 21 on verso with certificate of authenticity Norman Parkinson (...
Silver Gelatin
Gravestone Detail
By Ansel Adams
Located in Pacific Grove, CA
This silver gelatin print is initialed "AA" in felt-tip ink either by the artist or an unknown hand on the front of the mount. This print comes from the collection of the artist's da...
Silver Gelatin
$375
H 20 in W 24 in
John Minihan 'Yves Saint Laurent' Archival Photograph by Getty, 20x24
By John Minihan
Located in San Rafael, CA
By photographer John Minihan, Yves Saint Laurent, French designer with two fashion models, Betty Catroux (left) and Loulou de la Falaise, outside his 'Riv...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Andy Warhol and a Male Model
By Andy Warhol
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
This is a unique photographic work taken under the direction of Andy Warhol. Image dimensions: 8 x 10 in. Framed dimensions: 16 x 18 in. Work comes with an authentication letter from the Andy Warhol Authentication Board, Inc. Stamped on verso by the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board. Provenance: Estate of the Artist to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to Hedges Projects...
Silver Gelatin
$3,000
H 15 in W 11 in
Carlos Santana, Day On the Green, Oakland Coliseum, Oakland CA, July 1977
By Baron Wolman
Located in Westwood, NJ
This is a unique handmade platinum palladium print editioned #AP1
Platinum
$4,500
H 15 in W 13.5 in D 2 in
Andy Warhol, Silver Gelatin Photograph by Christopher Makos, circa 1978
By Christopher Makos
Located in Long Island City, NY
This gelatin silver print was created by American photographer Christopher Makos. Makos is well known for his relationships with icons like Andy Warhol, Tennessee Williams, and John ...
Silver Gelatin
Three Italian Tomatoes
By Cy DeCosse
Located in Westwood, NJ
With a varied career as both an artist and art director, Cy has collaborated with many of America’s best photographers. His works are close, intimate portraits of almost infinite depth, casting the ordinary in an entirely new light. Looking through his trove of lush imagery, the recurring elements of classical still life composition, gorgeous Mediterranean light combined with his hand painted backdrops...
Platinum
$3,450
H 14 in W 14 in D 0.01 in
Roping a Cloud, IL Ranch, Nevada by Adam Jahiel, 1994, Platinum Print
By Adam Jahiel
Located in Denton, TX
Roping a Cloud, IL Ranch, Nevada by Adam Jahiel depicts a cowboy throwing a lasso. The lasso is frozen in time, perfectly framing the small cloud in the sky. A herd of horses surroun...
Platinum