Untitled (Hujar Dead) by David Wojnarowicz, 1988-1989, Gelatin silver print, acrylic, screenprint, and collaged paper on board, 39 1/8 × 32in. (99.4 × 81.3 cm), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

David Wojnarowicz and Peter Hujar first met in the early 80’s. Both gained a liking to one another due to their shared confused outlook on life and their deep love for art. Not only did they have a close knit friendship, but oftentimes collaborated on photographs and mixed media portraits with one another. This closeness, however, was rattled by Hujar’s AIDS diagnosis in early 1987. Hujar broke the news to Wojnarowicz over the phone and 10 minutes after ending the call, Wojnarowicz found himself at Hujar’s door. After his AIDS diagnosis, Peter Hujar never produced another photograph. Towards the end of 1987, Hujar found himself living at the Cabrini Medical Center where he would later pass away on November 26th due to AIDS complications. David Wojnarowicz was there the day he died and memorialized his friend through a series of photos, documenting his hands, feet and face. Wojnarowicz was inspired to photograph these parts by religious texts that deemed them as the holiest parts of the human body, and how they always used things like washing someone’s feet and hands as a sign of respect. While photos of Hujar’s emaciated, lifeless body pull on audiences heartstrings, the text written by Wojnarowicz demands anger and action from viewers; Wojnarowicz was torn by the loss of his friend, but used it to fuel the disdain he had for the system that sought to ignore his community. 

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