AA Bronson
1946–
In 1969 AA Bronson cofounded the collaborative group General Idea with fellow Canadian artists Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal. Over the next twenty-five years the trio radically challenged existing structures of identity, mass culture, and art in paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos, prints, books, magazines, and performances. In the 1980s, after Partz and Zontal became HIV-positive, the group began focusing their work on the AIDS crisis. They designed a logo that borrowed from Robert Indiana’s iconic LOVE 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.
Partz and Zontal died in 1994, and Bronson took a photograph of Partz’s lifeless body shortly after he passed away. FelixPartz, 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.”
Introduction
AA Bronson (born Michael Tims in Vancouver in 1946) is an artist. He was a founding member of the artists' group General Idea, was president and director of Printed Matter, Inc., and started the NY Art Book Fair and the LA Art Book Fair.
Wikidata identifier
Q4649967
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed April 16, 2025.
Introduction
Founding member of the collaborative art group General Idea with Felix Partz and Jorge Zontal. 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, which he now co-directs. 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.
Country of birth
Canada
Roles
Artist, activist, administrator, conceptual artist, installation artist, performance artist, photographer, sculptor, teacher, video artist
ULAN identifier
500126031
Names
AA Bronson, A. A. Bronson, A. Bronson, Michael Tims
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed April 16, 2025.
