General Idea's Imagevirus Analyzed by Gregg Bordowitz
Artist and writer Gregg Bordowitz has authored a book analyzing General Idea's Imagevirus series, which ran from 1987 to 1994. The Canadian art group—AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal—created a symbol using the acronym AIDS arranged like Robert Indiana's LOVE logo. Through paintings, sculptures, videos, posters, exhibitions, and ephemera, they investigated AIDS as both word and image, using viral transmission as a mechanism. Bordowitz examines the series from his own experience with activist art in 1980s and 1990s New York, considering battles over sexuality and representation. He approaches the virus as idea, tactic, and identity, drawing on modernist literature by Gertrude Stein and William S. Burroughs. The book explores how Imagevirus infected urban spaces globally, offering a model for artistic production suited to ideological struggle. Published by Afterall, the book is available via MIT Press and previewable on Google Books.
Key facts
- General Idea created Imagevirus in the mid-1980s.
- The series ran from 1987 to 1994.
- The logo used the acronym AIDS arranged like Robert Indiana's LOVE logo.
- General Idea consisted of AA Bronson, Felix Partz, and Jorge Zontal.
- Gregg Bordowitz wrote the book analyzing Imagevirus.
- Bordowitz was involved in activist art in New York during the 1980s and 1990s.
- The analysis references Gertrude Stein and William S. Burroughs.
- The book is published by Afterall and available via MIT Press.
Entities
Artists
- AA Bronson
- Felix Partz
- Jorge Zontal
- Gregg Bordowitz
- Robert Indiana
- Gertrude Stein
- William S. Burroughs
- General Idea
Institutions
- Afterall
- MIT Press
- Google Books
- Artists Space
- Afterall Books
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Locations
- New York
- United States
- New York City
- 38 Greene Street, 3rd Floor, NYC 10013