General Idea, AIDS Cross (Cadmium Red Medium), 1991/2021 at Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland, 2021
In collaboration with Mai 36, Zurich, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, and Maureen Paley, London.
Photo © Andrea Rossetti
General Idea, AIDS Cross (Cadmium Red Medium), 1991/2021 at Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland, 2021
In collaboration with Mai 36, Zurich, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, and Maureen Paley, London.
Photo © Andrea Rossetti
General Idea, AIDS Cross (Cadmium Red Medium), 1991/2021 at Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland, 2021
In collaboration with Mai 36, Zurich, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, and Maureen Paley, London.
Photo © Andrea Rossetti
General Idea, AIDS Cross (Cadmium Red Medium), 1991/2021 at Art Basel Unlimited, Basel, Switzerland, 2021
In collaboration with Mai 36, Zurich, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, and Maureen Paley, London.
Photo © Andrea Rossetti
General Idea
AIDS Cross (Cadmium Red Medium)
1991/2021
Acrylic on linen
5 panels, 150 x 150 cm each
450 x 450 cm overall
Courtesy the Estate of General Idea; Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich; Maureen Paley, London; Mitchell- Innes & Nash, New York; and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Photo © Andrea Rossetti
Mitchell-Innes & Nash is pleased to present, in partnership with Mai 36 Galerie (Zurich), Maureen Paley (London) and Esther Schipper (Berlin), AIDS Cross by General Idea at Art Unlimited at Art Basel 2021.
AIDS Cross is the most recent in General Idea’s history of AIDS works in various media. In response to an invitation to create works for the first Art Against AIDS benefit in 1987, General Idea appropriated the colors and stacked letter design of Robert Indiana’s widely quoted LOVE (1966), re-configuring it to read “AIDS.” Producing paintings, posters, wallpaper, postage stamps, public sculpture, and billboards, General Idea spread its AIDS logo throughout art institutions as well as the transportation and advertising systems of North America and Europe, with the now iconic series.
AIDS Cross is one of a new series of AIDS paintings, each consisting of five panels forming a cross. AIDS Cross echoes the form and dimensions of Robert Indiana’s LOVE Cross (1967), while it also mimics the emblem of the International Red Cross.
General Idea was formed in 1969 in Toronto by AA Bronson (born 1946), Felix Partz (1945-1994) and Jorge Zontal (1944-1994). The three artists worked and lived together until the deaths of Partz and Zontal in 1994 from AIDS-related causes. AA Bronson lives and works in Berlin.
On September 20th at Art Basel Unlimited, Mitchell-Innes & Nash (New York), Mai 36 Galerie (Zurich), Maureen Paley (London) and Esther Schipper (Berlin) will jointly present AIDS Cross (1991/2021), the most recent of General Idea’s history of AIDS works in various media. All four galleries will additionally present works by General Idea in their respective fair booths, alongside a suite of works by their other represented artist.
Much of our current global situation feels unprecedented. However, COVID-19 is not the first disease to send shockwaves through our communities. The AIDS epidemic of the ‘80s and ‘90s, like COVID-19, hit indiscriminately but affected vulnerable members of society the hardest. At the time, amidst an inadequate public response largely rooted in homophobia, many artists felt compelled to create work aimed at raising critical awareness about the crisis. With AIDS (Installation), General Idea did this with a resounding impact, which continues to echo today.
