Kay Rosen’s “AIDS ON GOING GOING ON” (2013) projected on the former site of St. Vincent’s Hospital by The Illuminator for Day With(out) Art 2015. Photo by Elliot Luscombe (lvscombe.com)




Visual AIDS projected our Day With(out) Art 2015 project Radiant Presence on the facades of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the former site of St. Vincent’s hospital (once the largest AIDS ward on the East Coast, now being developed into luxury condos). The projections took place on December 4, 2015, a few days after World AIDS Day on December 1, as a gesture to demonstrate that every day is World AIDS Day.

Special thanks to the Illuminator for coordinating the projections and to Elliot Luscomb, Maia Paroginog, Orlando Ferrand and Mert Erdem for documenting the evening.

View Radiant Presence on Vimeo. To see more photos of the projections, visit Visual AIDS.

Radiant Presence is a digital slideshow with images from the Visual AIDS’ Artist+ Registry, the largest database of works by artists with HIV/AIDS. Radiant Presence features artwork by artists living with HIV/AIDS and those who are no longer with us. The artwork is interspersed with current statistics and information about HIV/AIDS today.

At this point in the AIDS epidemic, over 39 million people have died of AIDS-related causes. The nature of the crisis has changed, however, so that nearly just as many people, 36 million, are living with HIV today. In this context, Radiant Presence showcases the resilience and vitality of Visual AIDS’ Artist Members and their artwork, preserving the radiance of those who have passed while provoking dialogue about the needs and experiences of people living with HIV.

Radiant Presence is coordinated on the occasion of the 26th Day With(out) Art and provokes conversations about HIV criminalization and stigma, access to treatment, the shifting demographics of people living with HIV and the disproportionate effect of the epidemic on communities of color and transwomen.

Radiant Presence is inspired by the 25th Anniversary of Electric Blanket, an epic slide show about AIDS created by photographers Nan Goldin, Allen Frame and Frank Franca for Visual AIDS which intersperses the work of over 200 photographers with slide texts that include demographics, data, and slogans about AIDS worldwide. The slide show, initially projected on the façade of Cooper Union on December 1 1990, was later projected on public walls and buildings internationally.

On and around World AIDS Day, December 1, 2015, Radiant Presence will reach thousands of viewers through public screenings, social media and public programs in museums, art institutions, universities, AIDS service organizations and online venues.

Artists featured in the slideshow include: Stephen Andrews, AZT, Jurgen Baldiga,Bizzy Barefoot, Barton Lidice Beneš, Luis Carle, Walt Cessna, Tseng Kwong Chi,Lucretia Crichlow, Darkroom Danny, Chloe Dzubilo, Brent Nicholson Earle, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Benjamin Fredrickson, Tim Greathouse, Max Greenberg, Carlos Gutierrez-Solana, Veritee Reed Hall, John Hanning, W. Benjamin Incerti, Derek Jackson, Shan Kelley, Kia Labeija, Nancer LeMoins, David McDiarmid, Joyce McDonald, Kissa Millar, Mark Morrisroe, Jon Nalley, Ray Navarro, Luna Luis Ortiz,Richard Renaldi, Hunter Reynolds, Juan Rivera, Eric Rhein, Jeffrey Scott, Steed Taylor, Hector Toscano, L. Robert Westeen, Jorge Veras, Bruce Volpone, Albert Winn, Martin Wong, David Wojnarowicz, and Lina Yaroslavska.