Wojnarowicz Wall Drawing at Pier 34, Photograph, 1983

David Wojnarowicz drawings at Pier 34, 1983;  color photograph by Marisela La Grave,  19 ¾ x 30 in

Large color photograph (19 3/4 x 30 in.)

This photograph is currently framed

Although the exact history of this large photograph is unclear it seems likely that it was made by Wojnarowicz for the 1984 Fashion Moda traveling exhibition “Of The Street.”

In early 1983 the long abandoned Pier 34 at the foot of Canal Street was the site of an illegal guerrilla exhibition similar in spirit to the Real Estate Show and the Times Square Show.  Organized by David Wojnarowicz and Mike Bidlo the Pier Show harnessed the raw street-art energy that then dominated the art scene and it was an important showcase for up-and-coming “East Village” artists.   Authorities quickly shut down the show and soon demolished the pier leaving only a handful of photographs as the sole record of a now legendary event.  The photographer of this large, color print of Wojnarowicz’s extraordinary room is by Marisela La Grave whose connection with Wojnarowicz and her photographs of the art at Pier 34 is discussed in Cynthia Carr’s 2012 book Fire in the Belly:  The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz, pp. 204-06.  A conversation with La Grave revealed that she lent the Kodachrome slide of this image to Wojnarowicz around 1984 so that he could make duplicates.  The slide was never returned.  Because this large color photograph was acquired from an archive associated with the art space Fashion Moda, it seems likely that Wojnarowicz used the slide to create this photograph for the Fashion Moda traveling exhibition “Of The Street.”