Aug 13, 2020 - Sale 2544

Sale 2544 - Lot 176

Price Realized: $ 3,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

DAVID WOJNAROWICZ/ANDREAS STERZING

David Wojnarowicz (Silence = Death), New York.
Photostat, the image measuring 235x177.8 mm; 9 1/4x7 inches, the sheet 279.4x216 mm; 11x8 1/2 inches, flush mounted to a sheet of paper. 1989.

Provenance: From the Estate of Brian Butterick.
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Additional Details

This iconic image of David Wojnarowicz depicted with his mouth sewn shut is from a performance by Wojnarowicz that was included in the documenatry film by Rosa von Praunheim "Silence = Death" (1990). Wojnarowicz's actions re-iterate the "Silence=Death" motto, which was used by ACT UP, while also visually expressing Wojnarowicz's feelings of being silenced by politicians and society as an AIDS activist and member of the queer community. Of voicing his beliefs, Wojnarowicz stated, 'I think what I really fear about death is the silencing of my voice. I feel this incredible pressure to leave something of myself behind."