Untitled, from the Sex Series,

1989

<p><em>The Sex Series</em> emerged from an overwhelming sense of loss—of loved ones, of privacy, of emotional and physical stability—that the artist experienced during the AIDS crisis. In these photomontages, Wojnarowicz printed negative images of otherwise ordinary built environments, overlaid them with text, and superimposed circular peepholes—simultaneously microscopic and surveillant—that afford glimpses of intimate scenes, such as pornographic vignettes and a fetus in utero. With tonal inversions that lend a menacing glow, <em>The Sex Series </em>captures how American culture marginalized homosexuality and makes tangible the devastation wrought by AIDS.</p><p><strong>Student Response:</strong> </p><p><a name="_Hlk55902880">Wojnarowicz’s <em>The Sex Series </em>is a powerful depiction of loss and intimacy. It layers the home exterior with intimate scenes, and grapples with the dehumanizing nature of epidemics, such as the ways in which death can become a statistic, undermining the profound personal loss experienced by those impacted. As our global society experiences the COVID-19 pandemic, we are bombarded with infection rates, case numbers, and death tolls, but society seldom reflects upon the loss we are experiencing on an intimate and interpersonal level. I think we often experience death on an abstract level when we consume media that treats death as a factual, numerical subject but fail to reflect upon the meaning of that loss. Wojnarowicz’s work speaks to the private moments of loss caused by the AIDS epidemic as well as the devastation of this loss, which has been historically marginalized and seldom represented. </a></p> <p>Shelby Kinch ’22</p>