In the Curator’s
Statement:
It had something
to do with Labyrinths…
A place to get lost ... for a time.
This, at least, was my starting point when I first started
sifting through the Frank Moore Archive Project. A little
romantic and a little scary. Thinking back on it now makes
it seem kind of ironic as a labyrinth is basically a riddle,
a spatial conundrum.
The conundrum, for me, has always been about where bodies
begin and end. Or put another way, where the OUTSIDE connects
with the INSIDE ... when things get reversed (turned inside
out) and you suddenly find yourself on the outs when you
should have been on the ins. Where things become familiar
and unfamiliar at the same time, not unlike:
A mandala
A dark and twisted corridor
A knot in the landscape
That dream house nightmare
A boy's curved back as he turns away
A floor tile
A dinosaur mural with broken windows for eyes
A man jerking off in his apartment (with his apartment)
A pile of rubble
A closed roll gate that is both an invitation and a barrier
Bodies etched on bodies, etched across crumbling facades;
buildings crumbling with orgasmic delight. What would it
be like to, instead, have broken cities etched onto bodies?
Graffiti in reverse.
... or maybe it was about Home, that no-place just out
of reach.
b i o g r a p h y
Adam Putnam is an artist, born and currently living in New
York City. He is represented by Taxter & Spengemann and
has exhibited at Andrew Kreps and P.S. 1. Recently his work
was on view in "Between the 2 Deaths" at the ZKM,
Karlsruhe. He has also initiated several projects, including
the one-time journal "Into the Abyss" about sex
and suicide in the landscape, and a lecture series in 2005
entitled "Passing Time." In January 2007, Putnam
and artist Shannon Ebner co-curated "Blow Both of Us"
at Participant Inc. The exhibition highlighted the interconnected
links between friends in a queer community spanning several
decades.
Every
month, Visual AIDS invites guest curators,
drawn from both the arts and AIDS communities, to select several
works from the Frank Moore Archive Project.
Founded in 1988 by arts professionals as a response to the
effects of AIDS on the arts community and as a way of organizing
artists, arts institutions, and arts audiences towards direct
action, Visual AIDS has evolved into an arts organization
with a two-pronged mission: 1) Through the Frank Moore Archive
Project, the largest slide library of work by artists living
with HIV and the estates of artists who have died of AIDS,
Visual AIDS historicizes the contributions of visual artists
with HIV while supporting their ability to continue making
art and furthering their professional careers, 2) In collaboration
with museums, galleries, artists, schools, and AIDS service
organizations, Visual AIDS produces exhibitions, publications,
and events utilizing visual art to spread the message “AIDS
IS NOT OVER.”
The Body
is now the most frequently visited HIV/AIDS-related site on
the Web, according to the Medical Library Association and
also the most frequently visited disease-specific site on
the Web, according to Hot 100. The Body contains a rich collection
of information on topics ranging from HIV prevention, state-of-the-art
treatment issues, humor and art. An invaluable resource, The
Body is used by clinicians, patients and the general public.
Part of The Body's mission is to enable artistic expression
to reach the Web, and to join art with other resources needed
to help the public comprehend the enormity and devastation
of the AIDS pandemic and to experience its human and spiritual
dimensions. |
