{"data":{"id":"8039","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":8039,"topgoose_id":2954,"tms_id":8039,"display_name":"AA Bronson","sort_name":"Bronson AA","display_date":"1946–","begin_date":"1946","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1969 AA Bronson cofounded the\ncollaborative group General Idea with\nfellow Canadian artists Felix Partz and Jorge\nZontal. Over the next twenty-five years\nthe trio radically challenged existing\nstructures of identity, mass culture, and\nart in paintings, sculptures, photographs,\nvideos, prints, books, magazines, and\nperformances. In the 1980s, after Partz\nand Zontal became HIV-positive, the group\nbegan focusing their work on the AIDS\ncrisis. They designed a logo that borrowed\nfrom \u003ca href=\"/artists/638\"\u003eRobert Indiana\u003c/a\u003e’s iconic\u003cem\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/em\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/1787\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eLOVE\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e image from the 1960s, replacing L-O-V-E with A-I-D-S, and created large-scale installations and sculptures that referenced AZT, the first government-approved drug for treating HIV/AIDS.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePartz and Zontal died in 1994, and\nBronson took a photograph of Partz’s lifeless\nbody shortly after he passed away. \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/16348\"\u003eFelixPartz\u003c/a\u003e\u003cem\u003e,\u003c/em\u003e June 5, 1994 bears witness to the devastation wrought by the AIDS epidemic. Arranged as if to receive visitors, Partz’s body attests to the ravages of the illness. Yet his ashen figure is surrounded by brightly colored bedding and clothing as well as tokens of comfort such as a remote control, cigarettes, and his beloved tape recorder. These personal effects suggest joy and compassion in the face of a harrowing death, which Bronson memorializes with both unflinching candor and great sensitivity. In printing Partz’s portrait in the manner of a commercial billboard, Bronson references their past collaborations while also creating a startling monument that forces us to confront feelings about our own mortality. When first exhibiting the work, Bronson wrote: “Dear Felix, by the act of exhibiting this image I declare that we are no longer of one mind, one body. I return you to General Idea’s world of mass media, there to function without me.”\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500126031","wikidata_id":"Q4649967","created_at":"2017-08-30T17:40:37.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-03-31T07:02:19.120-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/8039/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/8039/exhibitions"}}}}