Rock Hushka

“AIDS? Wasn’t that an art movement in the eighties?” quipped the young Chelsea gallerist, straining for just the right mix of irony and hipness. Sensing that her question missed the mark, the young woman then quickly offered, “Well, that’s a joke I often hear from artist friends when they talk about AIDS.” Her remarks betrayed a too-often-repeated distancing strategy from the reality of HIV/AIDS and the underlying complexity that the epidemic poses for artists today. On one hand, such comments hint at the wholesale incorporation of AIDS-themed art practice into the academy/marketplace.