Dear Jean Pierre
What is love?
I know nothing about art but I know everything about beautiful things. And when I see a beautiful thing, I cannot stop staring at it. But what’s a beautiful thing? A sunset. A newborn. A hand-written love letter. An empty agenda.
I went back to New York last week after almost 3 years of not going there. It felt great. While walking through the madness of Broadway and Canal, I passed by PPOW and there it was: a beautiful thing starring at me, or was I the one staring at it? By thing I mean the gallery’s latest show: Dear Jean Pierre – a tremendously delicious show that celebrates icon David Wojnarowic’z legacy while remembering his relationship with his French lover, Jean Pierre Delage.
Wojnarowic, who is probably one of the most brilliant souls the art world has ever seen, died of Aids in 1992. But at the same, he’s always been alive – through his vision, his work and most importantly: trough the love people have for his art. Dear Jean Pierre displays never-seen letters sent by him to Jean Pierre (between 1979 and 1982) along sketches and photographies.
N.Y. JUNE 6 (NIGHT)
DEAR JEAN PIERRE-
IT IS EVENING HERE – I AM BECOMING MORE COMFORTABLE WITH BEING BACK IN NEW YORK; IT WAS DIFFICULT AFTER THE QUIET TIMES IN PARIS. BRIAN AND I ARE LOOKING FOR JOBS AND HOPE TO FIND AN APARTMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I AM ANXIOUS TO START WORK ON MY WRITINGS AND GET SOME WORK DONE. ITS RAINING HERE A LOT. I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY SUNSETS. WELL, I HOPE YOU ARE WELL. I MISS YOU A LOT AND PARIS ALSO. THIS IS JUST A CARD TO SI “HI” OR “HELLO.”
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.
LOVE,
DAVID.
In a recent interview for Another Man by journalist Violet Conroy, Cynthia Carr, Co-Curator of the show, says on why David’s work is still important today:
“I think it’s because of the way he dealt with crisis, the disasters we’re in right now with war and climate change and everything else, it’s like a world in crisis. For David, Aids was a crisis, and Aids changed the world for the worse. David was there, speaking personally and truthfully, in his art and in his writing, in Close to the Knives. It makes a difference when someone is there and is saying: ‘I see you. I see what you’re going through. I’m going to paint it, I’m going to write it.’ Most of the ACT UP group were sick and they knew they were going to die, but they still tried to have this political group about it. David’s integrity always comes through; the way he dealt with all these issues in his life, and cared about expressing that more than he cared about making money. His work was always from the heart.”
They say love moves mountains.
It seems like David’s love for Jean Pierre could have moved the entire universe. And somehow, it is still very alive, moving us.
Dear Jean Pierre: The David Wojnarowicz Correspondence with Jean Pierre Delage, 1979 – 1982, will be on view at PPOW Gallery in New York until April 23rd.
