Approaching the art of David Wojnarowicz through the mailbox

On March 25, 2022 an exhibit of the work of David Wojnarowicz opened at the P.P.O.W. Gallery in New York City. This installation takes a unique approach to his art, through the lens of his relationship with a special friend in Paris. The exhibit is entitled David Wojnarowicz, Correspondence with Jean Pierre Delage, 1979-1982. It includes letters, postcards, photographs and other ephemera that trace the intimate relationship between two young creative minds on opposite sides of the Atlantic and it gives us a new insight into the mind of Wojnarowicz as he refined his own art and struggled with the exigencies of everyday life. We see him enjoying his travels in France and dealing with things that all New Yorkers know too well: the quest for a livable apartment and a job that does not kill the spirit. These messages brings the artist alive in ways that enrich our understanding of his talent. There are some later letters as well, brief, saddened postcards from the later period up to 1992, as Wojnarowicz found his life seeping away from him, as a victim of the AIDS epidemic of that time. These are especially poignant pieces, that in their few words convey the tragedy of a life cut short just at its prime.

Jean Pierre Delage at the opening.

Also featured at the opening was a volume from 2012, Fire in the Belly, the life and times of David Wojnarowicz. It is a thick volume of exceptionally detailed research by Cynthia Carr, a former columnist from the Village Voice. This biography was very well received upon its publication and was a winner of the Lambda Literary Award. The book is available in paperback and as an ebook. Cynthia Carr was on hand to sign copies and to discuss her work.

The show is on view at the P.P.O.W. Gallery at 392 Broadway, New York until April 23, 2022. The gallery is located just one block south of Canal Street.