2018
40 copies
Signed and numbered
40 copies
Signed and numbered
47×52 cm
18.5×20.47 in.
18.5×20.47 in.
50 posters
115 grams blueback paper
Micro-perforation
Silkscreened cardboard
115 grams blueback paper
Micro-perforation
Silkscreened cardboard
Three Star Books invited artist AA Bronson (b. 1946), the last living member of the Canadian conceptual art collective General Idea to take another look at the wallpaper version of one of their iconic pieces: “AIDS”.
“AIDS” was created following pop artist Robert Indiana’s “LOVE”, a screen print and a sculpture from 1967 in which the letters L.O.V.E. were replaced with the ones of A.I.D.S., appropriating and reintroducing it back into an art context. General Idea has been using techniques of appropriation since 1969, the year they began together, long before the term entered the art world.
For Three Star Books, AA Bronson has adapted “AIDS” into book form, like a wallpaper sample book, pointing to the fact that the AIDS crisis is far from over. “After General Idea”, contains fifty “ready to tear and distribute” posters that are bound and printed with spot colors on blue back poster paper.
“AIDS” was created following pop artist Robert Indiana’s “LOVE”, a screen print and a sculpture from 1967 in which the letters L.O.V.E. were replaced with the ones of A.I.D.S., appropriating and reintroducing it back into an art context. General Idea has been using techniques of appropriation since 1969, the year they began together, long before the term entered the art world.
For Three Star Books, AA Bronson has adapted “AIDS” into book form, like a wallpaper sample book, pointing to the fact that the AIDS crisis is far from over. “After General Idea”, contains fifty “ready to tear and distribute” posters that are bound and printed with spot colors on blue back poster paper.
Since 1987, General Idea's “AIDS” projects have utilized various advertising venues internationally as sites for art, producing posters, postage stamps, wallpaper, and rear-illuminated signs as a means to introduce the image, as a virus, into the bloodstream of society.
Installation view from AIDS Paintings, Koury Wingate, New York, 1988, Image courtesy of the Estate of General Idea; General Idea - AIDS (Billboard), 1988, Acrylic on canvas tarpaulin, 304.8 x 609.6 cm, Image courtesy of the Estate of General Idea; Public intervention in the Amsterdam public transit system using the AIDS poster (screenprint on adhesive-backed vinyl: 62.1 x 62.9 cm, unknown number used, from an unknown edition size, unsigned and unnumbered), published by Museum Fodor, Amsterdam.
AA Bronson lives and works in Berlin. In 1969 he formed the artists’ group General Idea with Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal; for 25 years they lived and worked together to produce the living artwork of being together, with over 100 solo exhibitions, and countless group shows and temporary public art projects. They were known for their magazine FILE (1972-1989), their production of low-cost multiples, and their early involvement in punk, queer theory, and AIDS activism.
Since his partners died in 1994, AA has worked and exhibited as a solo artist, often collaborating with younger generations. Since 1999 he has worked as a healer, an identity that he has also incorporated into his artwork. From 2004 to 2010 he was the Director of Printed Matter, Inc. in New York City, founding the annual NY Art Book Fair in 2005. In 2009 he founded the Institute for Art, Religion, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 2013 he was the founding Director of Printed Matter's LA Art Book Fair. He has taught at UCLA, the University of Toronto, and the Yale School of Art.
AA Bronson holds many awards and honorary doctorates. In 2008 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2011 he was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
AA Bronson lives and works in Berlin. In 1969 he formed the artists’ group General Idea with Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal; for 25 years they lived and worked together to produce the living artwork of being together, with over 100 solo exhibitions, and countless group shows and temporary public art projects. They were known for their magazine FILE (1972-1989), their production of low-cost multiples, and their early involvement in punk, queer theory, and AIDS activism.
Since his partners died in 1994, AA has worked and exhibited as a solo artist, often collaborating with younger generations. Since 1999 he has worked as a healer, an identity that he has also incorporated into his artwork. From 2004 to 2010 he was the Director of Printed Matter, Inc. in New York City, founding the annual NY Art Book Fair in 2005. In 2009 he founded the Institute for Art, Religion, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 2013 he was the founding Director of Printed Matter's LA Art Book Fair. He has taught at UCLA, the University of Toronto, and the Yale School of Art.
AA Bronson holds many awards and honorary doctorates. In 2008 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2011 he was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
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