World AIDS Day: Ann Magnuson + Steven Reigns
Overview
The Broad’s World AIDS Day 2022 commemoration is presented in advance of the special exhibition, Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody, which will be on view from May 27–October 8, 2023. Keith Haring, one of the many artists whose lives were cut short by AIDS-related illnesses, spent his final days focusing on AIDS activism. Actress, writer, musician, artist, and iconic denizen of the 1980s East Village art scene Ann Magnuson will speak with acclaimed poet Steven Reigns about such topics as art at the intersection of HIV/AIDS activism, HIV/AIDS in our current time, Reigns’s latest poetry collection which explores the life of a dentist falsely accused of transmitting HIV to his patients, and Club 57 and the downtown New York art scene in which Magnuson and Haring were influential players.
Complimentary copies of Ann Magnuson’s Club 57 Calendar for 2023 and Steven Reigns’s book A Quilt for David (sponsored in part by City Lights) will be given to the first 50 attendees to this event.
Since opening its doors in 2015, The Broad has presented annual programming for World AIDS Day to commemorate the many who have lost their lives to the pandemic, to recognize the many still living with HIV/AIDS, and to acknowledge that, globally speaking, the AIDS crisis is not over. At the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, artists became activists and activism grew into an art form. Prime examples of this include Broad collection artists Keith Haring and David Wojnarowicz (both of whom died of AIDS-related complications), as well as Glenn Ligon and Jenny Holzer, who continue to use their artistic voices to highlight the need for public awareness on the subject.
Free walk-up admission will be available. Please note that reserving a ticket does not guarantee seating at the event as seating is offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Free tickets for this event grant one-time, same-day access to The Broad’s third floor galleries.
Tickets include same-day access to The Broad’s third floor galleries, featuring in-depth presentations by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Kara Walker, and Andy Warhol, along with works by many others, during operating hours. Access to Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013) is not included and must be booked separately here. Visitors may also book free tickets to the Special Exhibition, William Kentridge: In Praise of Shadows, from 6–8 p.m. on the day of the event when they are released on November 30. Please note that the museum galleries and The Shop at The Broad will close during this event at 8:00 p.m.
For information on our current health and safety policies, visit Know Before You Go & FAQ. Visitor policies are subject to change.
Details
Ann Magnuson
In the 1980s NYC East Village art scene, Ann Magnuson showed her artwork in exhibitions curated by Keith Haring, managed the infamous neo-Dada cabaret Club 57, and performed at CBGB, Danceteria, Mudd Club, Pyramid Club, AREA, The Kitchen, and Joe's Pub. She has since released three solo albums and multiple EPs; her bands include Pulsallama, Bleaker Street Incident, Vulcan Death Grip, and Bongwater, which released five albums and has toured internationally. She currently performs and records with Alejandro Cohen from the Los Angeles based music collective dublab. Magnuson has acted in numerous movies and television shows, has performed in many Off-Broadway productions, and has presented her performance pieces at Lincoln Center, BAM, LACMA, REDCAT, Hammer Museum, Walker Art Center, and the Andy Warhol Museum as well as internationally in Canada, Italy, Japan, and Sweden. She has contributed articles to Art Forum, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Bust, Time Out New York, and Conde Nast Traveler, and has written forewords and essays for a variety of books, as well as a monthly column for Paper from 2000-2008. Ann Magnuson is married to architect John Bertram and they reside in Los Angeles, California with their feline daughter Lucy. annmagnuson.com Photo by Steven Love Menendez.
Steven Reigns
Steven Reigns is a Los Angeles poet and was appointed the first Poet Laureate of West Hollywood. Alongside over a dozen chapbooks, he has published the collections Inheritance and Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat. Reigns holds a BA in Creative Writing and a Master’s in Clinical Psychology, and is a fifteen-time recipient of The Los Angeles County’s Department of Cultural Affairs’ Artist in Residency Grant. He edited My Life is Poetry, showcasing his students’ work from the first-ever autobiographical poetry workshop for LGBTQ seniors. Reigns has lectured and taught writing workshops around the country to LGBTQ youth and people living with HIV. Currently he is touring The Gay Rub, an exhibition of rubbings from LGBTQ landmarks. His newest collection A Quilt for David was published by City Lights and is the product of ten years of research regarding dentist David Acer’s life. StevenReigns.com Photo by Evans Vestal Ward.
About World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day, designated on December 1 every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection, and mourning those who have died of the disease. Government and health officials, non-governmental organizations, and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS prevention and control.
World AIDS Day is one of the eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Immunization Week, World Tuberculosis Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Malaria Day, and World Hepatitis Day.
Since opening its doors in 2015, The Broad has presented annual programming for World AIDS Day to commemorate the many who have lost their lives to the pandemic, to recognize the many still living with HIV/AIDS, and to acknowledge that, globally speaking, the AIDS crisis is not over. At the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, artists became activists and activism grew into an art form. Prime examples of this include Broad collection artists Keith Haring and David Wojnarowicz (both of whom died of AIDS-related complications), Ross Bleckner, who started his practice dealing with the AIDS epidemic in 1980s, and Mark Bradford, Glenn Ligon, and Jenny Holzer, who continue to use their artistic voices to highlight the need for public awareness around HIV/AIDS.
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