The exhibition The ACT UP Portraits: Activists & Avatars, 1991-1994 presents approximately 15 never before seen black and white photographic portraits of AIDS activists – in the studio and at home – taken by photographer Stephen Barker during his time working within the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). The show is currently on view at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York.
Barker became involved with ACT UP in the late 1980’s, working primarily with the needle exchange program. The photographs were never intended as an encyclopedic project, but rather the portraits evolved organically out of Barker’s working relationships, friendships, and intimacies.
The exhibition is especially timely during this 30th anniversary year of ACT UP when once again all under-served communities, including those living with HIV/AIDS, are threatened by our own government. It is a call to arms for activism and a reminder of the distance we have travelled and battles we have won.
Also available is the handmade artist’s book Funeral March wherein Mark Fisher’s body is carried in an open coffin from Judson Memorial Church, up Sixth Avenue, to the steps of the Republican National Committee on the eve of the presidential election, 1992.
Stephen Barker, The ACT UP Portraits: Activists & Avatars, 1991-1994
September 14 – October 28, 2017
Daniel Cooney Fine Art
508 W 26th St
New York, NY 10001
USA
http://www.danielcooneyfineart.com/
