David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night

July 13–Sept 30, 2018

Beginning in the late 1970s, David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) created a body of work that spanned photography, painting, music, film, sculpture, writing, and activism. Largely self-taught, he came to prominence in New York in the 1980s, a period marked by creative energy, financial precariousness, and profound cultural changes. Intersecting movements—graffiti, new and no wave music, conceptual photography, performance, and neo-expressionist painting—made New York a laboratory for innovation. Wojnarowicz refused a signature style, adopting a wide variety of techniques with an attitude of radical possibility. Distrustful of inherited structures—a feeling amplified by the resurgence of conservative politics—he varied his repertoire to better infiltrate the prevailing culture.

Wojnarowicz saw the outsider as his true subject. Queer and later diagnosed as HIV-positive, he became an impassioned advocate for people with AIDS when an inconceivable number of friends, lovers, and strangers were dying due to government inaction. Wojnarowicz’s work documents and illuminates a desperate period of American history: that of the AIDS crisis and culture wars of the late 1980s and early 1990s. But his rightful place is also among the raging and haunting iconoclastic voices, from Walt Whitman to William S. Burroughs, who explore American myths, their perpetuation, their repercussions, and their violence. Like theirs, his work deals directly with the timeless subjects of sex, spirituality, love, and loss. Wojnarowicz, who was thirty-seven when he died from AIDS-related complications, wrote: “To make the private into something public is an action that has terrific ramifications.”

This exhibition is co-curated by David Kiehl, Curator Emeritus, and David Breslin, DeMartini Family Curator and Director of the Collection.

Major Support for David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night is provided by the Ford Foundation; The Thompson Family Foundation, Inc.; and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Significant support is provided by The Keith Haring Foundation Exhibition Fund, Brooke and Daniel Neidich, the Trellis Fund, and the Whitney’s National Committee.

Generous support is provided by Philip Aarons and Shelley Fox Aarons, Susan and John Hess, Nancy and Fred Poses, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, and Fern and Lenard Tessler.

Additional support is provided by James E. Cottrell and Joseph F. Lovett, the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation, and Gregory R. Miller and Michael Wiener.

Exhibition Catalogue

This richly illustrated book—the most definitive source on Wojnarowicz to date—is the first to comprehensively examine the artist’s life and work, pushing beyond the biographical focus that has characterized much previous scholarship. The excerpt featured here includes a selection from David Breslin’s overview essay as well as a preview of the plate section, which includes close examinations of groups of works by David Kiehl.

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Installation photography

Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). Clockwise, from top left: Andreas Sterzing, Something Possible Everywhere: Pier 34, NYC, 1983-84; David Wojnarowicz, Fuck You Faggot Fucker, 1984; Peter Hujar, Untitled (Pier), 1983; Peter Hujar, Canal Street Piers: Krazy Kat Comic on Wall [by David Wojnarowicz], 1983; David Wojnarowicz, Untitled, 1982; David Wojnarowicz, Untitled (Slam Click), 1983. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right, top to bottom: Untitled (Falling Man and Map of the U.S.A.), 1982; Untitled (Burning House), 1982; 3 Teens Kill 4—No Motive poster, 1982-83; Untitled (Falling Man and Other Stencils), 1982; Untitled (Dog Head), 1982; David Wojnarowicz and Kiki Smith, Untitled (Psychiatric Clinic), 1983; Savarin Coffee, 1983; Hujar Dreaming, 1982; Meat Franks, 1983; True Myth (Kraft Grape Jelly), 1983; Diptych II, 1982; Untitled, 1985; Untitled (Running Soldier in Camouflage and Gunsight), 1982; Prison Rape, 1984; Untitled (Camouflaged Plane with Red Dancer), 1982; Delta Towels, 1983; Jean Genet Masturbating in Metteray Prison (London Broil), 1983; Untitled (Sirloin Steaks), 1983; David Wojnarowicz and Kiki Smith, Untitled (Skull with Fetish Figure and Globe), 1984; Tuna, 1983; Peter Hujar, Untitled (David Wojnarowicz), 1984; Untitled (Skull with globe in mouth), 1984; Untitled, 1982; Incident #2—Government Approved, 1984; Martinson Coffee, 1983; Untitled (Frog and Snake), 1983; Untitled (Two Heads), 1984. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: The Newspaper as National Voodoo: A Brief History of the U.S.A., 1986; History Keeps Me Awake at Night (For Rilo Chmielorz), 1986; The Death of American Spirituality, 1987; Queer Basher/Icarus Falling, 1986; Unfinished Film (A Fire in My Belly), 1986-87; Unfinished Film (Mexico, etc… Peter, etc…), 1987; Unfinished Film (with sequence in memory of Peter Hujar), c. 1987; Unfinished Film (Mexico Film Footage II), c. 1988; A Worker, 1986; The Birth of Language II, 1986; Das Reingold: New York Schism, 1987; Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Queer Basher/Icarus Falling, 1986; Unfinished Film (A Fire in My Belly), 1986-87; Unfinished Film (Mexico, etc… Peter, etc…), 1987; Unfinished Film (with sequence in memory of Peter Hujar), c. 1987; Unfinished Film (Mexico Film Footage II), c. 1988; A Worker, 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Queer Basher/Icarus Falling, 1986; Unfinished Film (A Fire in My Belly), 1986-87; Unfinished Film (Mexico, etc… Peter, etc…), 1987; Unfinished Film (with sequence in memory of Peter Hujar), c. 1987; Unfinished Film (Mexico Film Footage II), c. 1988; A Worker, 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Unfinished Film (A Fire in My Belly), 1986-87; Unfinished Film (Mexico, etc… Peter, etc…), 1987; Unfinished Film (with sequence in memory of Peter Hujar), c. 1987; Unfinished Film (Mexico Film Footage II), c. 1988; Water, 1987. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Das Reingold: New York Schism, 1987; Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, 1986; Dung Beetles II: Camouflage Leads Us Into Destruction, 1986; Peter Hujar, David Lighting Up, 1985; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II), 1981; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz, 1981; Mexican Crucifix, 1987; Peter Hujar Dreaming/Yukio Mishima: Saint Sebastian, 1982; I Use Maps Because I Don’t Know How to Paint, 1984; The Newspaper as National Voodoo: A Brief History of the U.S.A., 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Fire, 1987; Wind (For Peter Hujar), 1987. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Something from Sleep II, 1987-88; Bad Moon Rising, 1989; He Kept Following Me, 1990; I Feel A Vague Nausea, 1990; Americans Can’t Deal with Death, 1990; We Are Born into a Preinvented Existence, 1990. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Sex Series (for Marion Scemama), 1989; Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled (Hujar Dead), 1988-89; Spirituality (For Paul Thek), 1988-89; Silence Through Economics, 1988-89. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Sex Series (for Marion Scemama), 1989; Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled (Hujar Dead), 1988-89. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Ant Series, 1988-89; Something from Sleep III (For Tom Rauffenbart), 1989. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: He Kept Following Me, 1990; I Feel A Vague Nausea, 1990; Americans Can’t Deal with Death, 1990; We Are Born into a Preinvented Existence, 1990. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Ant Series, 1988-89; Something from Sleep III (For Tom Rauffenbart), 1989; Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988); Untitled, 1987 (printed 1988). Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Untitled (One Day This Kid…), 1990-91; Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990). Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: What Is This Little Guy’s Job in the World, 1990; Untitled (ACT-UP), 1990; Sub-Species Helms Senatorius, 1990; Bread Sculpture, 1988-89; Untitled (Face in Dirt), 1991 (printed 1993). Photograph by Ron Amstutz
David Wojnarowicz with Tom Warren, Self-Portrait of David Wojnarowicz, 1983-84 (installation view, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). Acrylic and collaged paper on gelatin silver print, 58 1/2 x 39 in. (148.6 x 99.1 cm). Collection of Brooke Garber Neidich and Daniel Neidich. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1979; Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Autoportrait – New York, 1980; Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Rimbaud Mask, c. 1978; Untitled (Joseph Beuys), 1979; Untitled (Genet after Brassaï), 1979; Bill Burroughs’ Recurring Dream, 1978; Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 2004). Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right, front to back: Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled (Map Head), 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Science Lesson in 3D, 1984; Peter Hujar, David Lighting Up, 1985; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II), 1981; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz, 1981; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz with Hand Touching Eye, 1981; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz in Dianne B. Fashion Shoot II, 1983; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz (Village Voice “Heartsick: Fear and Loving in the Gay Community”), 1983. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
David Wojnarowicz, Science Lesson in 3D, 1984 (installation view, David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). Acrylic on collaged paper and papier-mâché, monofilament wire, nail, glass, rock, and plastic toys, 34 x 13 x 13 in. (86.4 x 33 x 33 cm). Collection of Gail and Tony Ganz. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: I Use Maps Because I Don’t Know How to Paint, 1984; Untitled (Green Head), 1982; Dung Beetles II: Camouflage Leads Us Into Destruction, 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Peter Hujar, David Lighting Up, 1985; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II), 1981; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz, 1981; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz with Hand Touching Eye, 1981; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz in Dianne B. Fashion Shoot II, 1983; Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz (Village Voice “Heartsick: Fear and Loving in the Gay Community”), 1983. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Untitled (Peter Hujar Dreaming), 1982; Peter Hujar Dreaming/Yukio Mishima: Saint Sebastian, 1982. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Untitled (Peter Hujar Dreaming), 1982; Peter Hujar Dreaming/Yukio Mishima: Saint Sebastian, 1982; I Use Maps Because I Don’t Know How to Paint, 1984; Untitled (Green Head), 1982. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). On wall from left to right, top to bottom: Untitled (Falling Man and Map of the U.S.A.), 1982; Untitled (Burning House), 1982; 3 Teens Kill 4—No Motive poster, 1982-83; Untitled (Falling Man and Other Stencils), 1982; Untitled (Dog Head), 1982; David Wojnarowicz and Kiki Smith, Untitled (Psychiatric Clinic), 1983; Savarin Coffee, 1983; Hujar Dreaming, 1982; Meat Franks, 1983; True Myth (Kraft Grape Jelly), 1983; Diptych II, 1982; Untitled, 1985; Untitled (Running Soldier in Camouflage and Gunsight), 1982; Prison Rape, 1984; Untitled (Camouflaged Plane with Red Dancer), 1982; Delta Towels, 1983; Jean Genet Masturbating in Metteray Prison (London Broil), 1983; Untitled (Sirloin Steaks), 1983; David Wojnarowicz with Kiki Smith, Untitled (Skull with Fetish Figure and Globe), 1984. In vitrines, left to right: Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled, 1984; Untitled (Map Head), 1984; Untitled, 1984. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, 1986; Dung Beetles II: Camouflage Leads Us Into Destruction, 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: The Birth of Language II, 1986; Das Reingold: New York Schism, 1987. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: I Use Maps Because I Don’t Know How to Paint, 1984; The Newspaper as National Voodoo: A Brief History of the U.S.A., 1986; History Keeps Me Awake at Night (For Rilo Chmielorz), 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: The Death of American Spirituality, 1987; Evolution, 1987. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Water, 1987; Earth, 1987. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Unfinished Film (A Fire in My Belly), 1986-87; Unfinished Film (Mexico, etc… Peter, etc…), 1987; Unfinished Film (with sequence in memory of Peter Hujar), c. 1987; Unfinished Film (Mexico Film Footage II), c. 1988. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Queer Basher/Icarus Falling, 1986; Unfinished Film (A Fire in My Belly), 1986-87; Unfinished Film (Mexico, etc… Peter, etc…), 1987; Unfinished Film (with sequence in memory of Peter Hujar), c. 1987; Unfinished Film (Mexico Film Footage II), c. 1988; A Worker, 1986. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Something from Sleep II, 1987-88; Audio recordings of Wojnarowicz reading in 1992 at the Drawing Center, New York, at a benefit for Needle Exchange. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Childhood, 1988; Untitled, 1987; Something from Sleep II, 1987-88; Bad Moon Rising, 1989. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Childhood, 1988; Untitled, 1987. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Untitled, 1987; Something from Sleep II, 1987-88; Bad Moon Rising, 1989; Phil Zwickler, Footage of Wojnarowicz speaking about the National Endowment for the Arts controversy, 1989; I Feel A Vague Nausea, 1990; Americans Can’t Deal with Death, 1990; We Are Born into a Preinvented Existence, 1990. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Weight of the Earth, Part II, 1988-89; Weight of the Earth, Part I, 1988; Something from Sleep IV (Dream), 1988-89; Fever, 1988-89. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Untitled (When I Put My Hands on Your Body), 1990; Untitled (SOMETIMES I COME TO HATE PEOPLE), 1992; Bread Sculpture, 1988-89; Untitled (One Day This Kid…), 1990-91. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Ant Series, 1988-89; Something from Sleep III (For Tom Rauffenbart), 1989; Untitled (Globe of the United States), 1990; Globe of the United States, 1990; Untitled, 1988-89. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Untitled (When I Put My Hands on Your Body), 1990; Untitled (SOMETIMES I COME TO HATE PEOPLE), 1992; Untitled (One Day This Kid…), 1990-91. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Weight of the Earth, Part II, 1988-89; Weight of the Earth, Part I, 1988; Something from Sleep IV (Dream), 1988-89; Fever, 1988-89; Globe of the United States, 1990; Untitled (Globe of the United States), 1990; Untitled (When I Put My Hands on Your Body), 1990; Untitled (SOMETIMES I COME TO HATE PEOPLE), 1992; He Kept Following Me, 1990. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Untitled (Joseph Beuys), 1979; Untitled (Genet after Brassaï), 1979; Bill Burroughs’ Recurring Dream, 1978. Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1979; Untitled, 1984; Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990); Arthur Rimbaud in New York, 1978-79 (printed 1990). Photograph by Ron Amstutz
Installation view of David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 13-September 30, 2018). From left to right: Journal entry, New York (Piers text and sketch), 1979-80; Journal entry, Paris (Rimbaud J.O. Study #1), 1979-80; Journal insert, Paris (Rimbaud Masturbation Study #2), 1979-80; Journal entry, France (Rimbaud sketches and photobooth strips), 1979. Photograph by Ron Amstutz