Oral history interview with Jim Hodges, conducted 2017 March 9 and May 25, by Cynthia Carr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Hodges' studio in Queens, New York.
Hodges speaks of his childhood in Spokane, Washington; exposure to art-making in high school and at Fort Wright College; attending Pratt Institute in 1983; his first New York gallery job in 1984; discovering his sexuality and becoming interested in queer life and history; the early years of the AIDS crisis; taking a studio with the Dannheisser Foundation; his body of work in mixed media; his gallery exhibitions in the late 1980s and early '90s; becoming sober in 1990; and the influence of the AIDS crisis on his artwork and art-making process. Hodges also recalls Karen Kaiser, Scott Smith, Marnie Fuller, Davie Nyzio, Lynn McCarty, Robert Vallenciano, Bob Morris, Linda Montano, Joseph Nechvatal, Rhys Chatham, Nancy Hoffman, Hunter Reynolds, Tony Feher, Bill Arning, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Doug Safranek, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Jim Hodges (1957- ) is an installation artist in New York, New York. Cynthia Carr (1950- ) is a writer in New York, New York.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
An interview with Hunter Reynolds, conducted 2016 August 10-September 7, by Theodore Kerr, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Fales Library in New York, New York.
Reynolds speaks of his childhood in Minnesota, Florida, and California; early sexual experiences; attending Otis College of Art and Design; moving to New York in 1984 and becoming part of the East Village scene; the beginning of the AIDS crisis and safe sex discourse; his involvement in ACT UP; being diagnosed with HIV and starting ART+ Positive in Los Angeles in 1989; his body of artwork, performances, exhibitions, and activist actions; resonances between AIDS activism of the 1980s and '90s and contemporary activism around the Black Lives Matter movement; the politics of identifying as an HIV-positive artist; experimenting with drag and developing his alter ego Patina du Prey; performances with "Memorial Dress," "The Banquet," "Dervish Dress;' "Mummification" performance; living and working in Germany in the 1990s; and his personal struggle with long-term HIV survivorship; his "disaster" series and "Survial AIDS" series; and making his life, past and present, his personal masterpiece. Reynolds also recalls Kathy Burkhart, Susan Silas, Fred Tomaselli, Scott Hill, Leslie Dahlgren, Paula Cooper, Ray Navarro, Mark Kostabi, Bill Dobbs, Dread Scott, Kim Levin, Simon Watson, Maxine Henryson, Herr Vishka, Tony Feher, Jim Hodges, Dylan Nayler, Kathleen White, Krista Naylor, and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Interviewee Hunter Reynolds (1959-2022) was a performance artist and activist in New York, New York. Interviewer Theodore Kerr (1979- ) is a writer and organizer in New York, New York.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Occupation:
Political activists -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Hunter Reynolds, 2016 August 10-September 7. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
