“…[Y]ou’ll certainly want to drop by the exhibition “THINGS: A Queer Legacy of Graphic Art and Play” at Participant Inc. on the Lower East Side.
“Organized by Bradford Nordeen and produced by ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles, it’s another cross-generational harvest, this one centered around three senior figures: Curt McDowell (1945-87), Tom Rubnitz (1956-92), and Robert Ford (1962-94), all experimenters too restless to build conventional careers.”
Holland Cotter: “Ford was in some ways the most far-ranging. Born in Chicago, he produced records, worked as a jazz critic and wrote a column on his experiences as an H.I.V.-positive black man. In 1989, he was co-publisher of THING, a short-lived journal that in its 10 issues merged black politics, gay politics and drag culture. Shown here, its pages burst with a vitality that seems to feed the work of young artists who round out and extend what is essentially a history show.”
‘THINGS: A Queer Legacy of Graphic Art and Play,’ on display through Aug. 21, 2016 at Participant Inc., 253 East Houston Street, between Norfolk and Suffolk Streets in Manhattan, participantinc.org.
A version of this article appears in print on July 29, 2016, Section C, Page 21 of the New York edition with the headline “Art From the Age of AIDS.” Read the full article at www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/arts/design/art-of-the-aids-years-addressing-history-absorbing-fear.html
