“Democracy,” color silkscreen print, from Your House Is Mine, 1990
David Wojnarowicz, “Democracy,” 1990, color silkscreen print, 20″ x 23″, signed.
One of the best-known East Village artists, David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) combined personal history with fierce politics in mixed-media works and street pieces. The retrospective David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Up at Night will appear at the Whitney Museum in summer 2018.
The social ills named in Wojnarowicz’s print for Your House Is Mine are no less pernicious 27 years later: “killer cops,” racism, homelessness, “no healthcare,” “corrupt politicians,” homophobia, sexism.
The image was first printed in black and white. James Romberger later prepared the color separations, after Wojnarowicz’s instructions. The complicated five-color print was then executed by Andrew Castrucci, shortly before Wojnarowicz’s death from AIDS.
