Though he died at the age of 37 due to AIDS complications, David Wojnarowicz left a powerful legacy of avant-garde artmaking, passionate LGBTQ+ and disability activism, and withstanding friendships — all of which will be commemorated at the New York City AIDS Memorial Park. To celebrate what would have been the trailblazing artist’s 70th birthday, the NYC AIDS Memorial has partnered with the David Wojnarowicz Foundation, Visual AIDS, and PPOW Gallery for an interdisciplinary remembrance event on Saturday night, September 14.

“I discovered that making an object, whether it was a drawing or a story, meant making something that spoke even if I was silent,” David Wojnarowicz wrote in his renowned 1991 memoir Close to the Knives. Throughout his life, the artist, writer, and activist used art to express himself amidst societal oppression. Today, Wojnarowicz’s voice remains––powerful and resonant––long after his death.

Events across Manhattan will pay tribute to the late artist through readings, film screenings, music, and a candlelit procession. Saturday evening (14 September) will be a staging of Wojnarowicz’s The Waterfront Journals monologues at the New York City Aids Memorial in Greenwich Village.

Holland Cotter writes: “Closer to home there was…a stirring lament of a public sculpture, called “Craig’s Closet” by the American artist Jim Hodges, installed in the park adjacent to the New York City AIDS Memorial. In part thanks to its placement near the memorial, the piece kept personal and political content in subtle sync, in an image that spoke of lives we had and have, lives we lost and are still losing, and lives we need to fight not to forget.”