New Artist Op-Ed: Ron Athey on the "Post-AIDS" Body

For the fourth installment of the Walker Art Center's Artist Op-Eds series, I invited Ron Athey to share his perspective on the 1994 Minneapolis performance that all but blacklisted him at US art venues for a decade, his life with HIV, and the realization that the disease wouldn't kill him after all. The result, "Polemic of Blood: Ron Athey on the 'Post-AIDS' Body," marks the first time Athey has discussed the events of March 1994 on a Walker platform (and the most comprehesive addressing of it by the Walker to date), and he'll likely revisit some of these themes next week during the weekend-long series of events Culture Wars: Then & Now here in Minneapolis. The essay comes out as Athey commemorates the 30th anniversary of his diagnosis with HIV and shares news of his return to Los Angeles after six years living overseas. It's a surprisingly poignant piece that sheds light on the life experiences and thinking that propel Athey's work.

Walker: Best one-liner wins concert tix

This one goes out to Taylor, who's hoping to score tickets to Rock the Garden (Andrew Bird, New Pornographers, Cloud Cult, Bon Iver): The Walker's hosting a contest, in honor of artist Richard Prince's joke paintings. They're soliciting the best one-line jokes. Winner gets two tickets to the June 21 outdoor concert plus a pair of admissions to "Adventures in Mating" by Joseph Scrimshaw. (If you can't read it, the Prince painting above reads, "I met my first girl, her name was Sally. Was that a girl, was that a girl. That’s what people kept asking.”)