Living and working together as part of the Toronto arts and theater community, AA Bronson (b. Michael Tims, 1946, Vancouver), Felix Partz (b. Ronald Gabe, 1945, Winnipeg; d. 1994), and Jorge Zontal (b. Slobodan Saia-Levy, 1944, Parma, Italy; d. 1994) formalized their collaboration in 1969 into a single entity known as General Idea. From their earliest projects like the staging of The 1970 Miss General Idea Pageant to their late activist initiatives around the AIDS crisis (among their most famous projects is the 1983 re-envisioning of Robert Indiana’s LOVE print as a memetic icon referencing the recently-named syndrome), General Idea explored multimedia, conceptual, and performance work as a tool for engaging with common culture and its repressions.

Challenging both the art world and the world at large, General Idea (1969–1994) remains one of the most influential artist groups to have emerged from Canada. Together, Felix Partz (1945–1994), Jorge Zontal (1944–1994) and AA Bronson (b. 1946) invented a ground-breaking practice that spanned more than twenty-five years.

Launching World AIDS Day, 1 Dec 2021, CIRCA presents VideoVirus, a powerful new film by AA Bronson and General Idea. Reimagining their historic Imagevirus for a global audience, the artwork comes to life in a hypnotic video animation that virally transmits their activist message across billboards in London, Milan, New York, Seoul & Tokyo.

Throughout December, CIRCA is proud to partner with UNAIDS and Terrence Higgins Trust to mark 40 years since the disease was first recorded in 1981. A new work by AA Bronson, the sole surviving member of the General Idea art group, draws inspiration from the viral intentions of Imagevirus, which in the mid-1980s spread consciousness of the epidemic by reappropriating Robert Indiana's famous LOVE logo, virally transmitting the AIDS symbol through cities in the form of paintings, sculptures, videos, posters, and exhibitions.

Please join Art Metropole for a book launch and signing with AA Bronson of The Estate of General Idea on Wednesday, March 28 from 7 to 9 pm at the Gladstone Hotel, Toronto. 

Gladstone Hotel, 2nd Floor Gallery, 1214 Queen Street W, Toronto 

Please join us for a special talk and book signing with AA Bronson of The Estate of General Idea on Saturday, March 10 at 4 pm. Kindly RSVP to rsvp@miandn.com as space is limited. 

Printed Matter | 231 Eleventh Avenue, New York

Mitchell-Innes & Nash is pleased to announce representation of Canadian artist collective General Idea.