Yabu Pushelberg has been opened Don’t Stop I’m getting up! in New York, presenting a multi-week series of exhibitions and cultural programming on LGBTQIA+ identity, HIV activism and community response. George Yabu and Glenn Pusselberg founded the international creative design studio in 1980 and the studio now operates from New York and Toronto. For this project, Yabu Pushelberg is collaborating with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, known as UNAIDS.
ART
The exhibition runs from June 19 to July 18 at Yabu Pushelberg’s studio in New York and marks the studio’s first collaboration with the United Nations. Don’t Stop I’m getting up! uses photography, archival works, cultural artifacts, conversations, and community gatherings to trace queer identity from the era of sexual liberation, through the AIDS epidemic, to the current global effort to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
The exhibition was opened ahead of the UN General Assembly High Level Session on HIV/AIDS, which took place on 22 and 23 June. The project reminds the public that AIDS still requires urgent action, and that public engagement, social mobilization, and de-stigmatization and discrimination remain essential to ending the epidemic. Over the course of the month, Yabu Pushelberg connects with New York audiences in culture, design, fashion, media and advocacy.
Don’t Stop I’m getting up! profiles activists and communities that shaped New York’s queer visibility, responded to the early AIDS devastation, and created forms of care, art, and organization during the crisis. The report brings together several sections. Andy, Candy, and Me draws from Tony Mansfield’s personal archive, featuring photographs of Andy Warhol, Candy Darling and members of The Factory. The photographer remains unknown.
AIDS Is Not Over features panels from the US AIDS Memorial and historic videos from the UNAIDS archives. AIDS at The New School: What does he remember? examines the university’s history of art making, education, and care during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. Stan Walden, a New School alumnus, curates the section and places historical artifacts alongside contemporary perspectives. Your Shame Bores Me features work by queer artist and photographer Christopher Sherman, who explores contemporary queer identity, self-expression and today’s LGBTQIA+ awakening.
George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg frame the exhibition as a call to the creative and professional communities to use their influence in the fight to end AIDS. Vinay Saldanha, Director of the UNAIDS Office in New York, also emphasizes the need for renewed action by governments and communities during Don’t Stop. I’m getting up!
The Salon Series will guide audience participation throughout the exhibition. Yabu Pushelberg uses the ongoing platform for invitation-only talks, panels and gatherings at its New York and Toronto locations. The series brings together voices from design, art, fashion, activism and public life to discuss ideas shaping contemporary culture.
Programming began on June 18 with an exclusive preview and opening conversation at the Salon with Vinay Saldanha, UNAIDS Senior Advisor Regan Hofmann and Glenn Pushelberg. The discussion looked at progress in the global response to HIV and looked at the ongoing impact of HIV on queer communities, women, children and indigenous peoples.
Additional programming includes a MAN OF PARTS reception marking the close of the UNGA High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, welcoming leaders from the UN, governments and creative communities. Christopher Sherman hosts a live event featuring 15 readings from guest contributors, using short stories, photography and video art to examine sex and sexuality. The HIV & The Community panel connects early AIDS activism to current dialogue around U=U, PrEP and queer leadership. Tribù and West Out East are hosting a private cocktail reception in support of Rainbow Railroad, an international non-profit organization that helps LGBTQI+ people facing violence and oppression.
Don’t Stop I’m getting up! remains open to the public until July 18, Tuesday through Saturday, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Yabu Pushelberg’s 66 White Street Gallery in Tribeca.
