David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night

On September 17, 1987, Gracie Mansion Gallery opened an exhibition of Wojnarowicz’s work called The Four Elements. These symbolically and technically dense paintings—allegorical representations of earth, water, fire, and wind—are Wojnarowicz’s take on a theme with a long history in European art. By linking his contemporary moment to a historical subject, he claims a lineage for his work as he suggests the particularity—and particular violence—of his time.