NYU’s Grey Art Gallery and the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center (KJCC) are proud to partner with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art 2023 by presenting Everyone I Know Is Sick, a program of five videos generating connections between HIV and other forms of illness and disability.

The program features newly commissioned work by Dorothy Cheung (Hong Kong), Hiura Fernandes & Lili Nascimento (Brazil), Beau Gomez (Canada/Philippines), Dolissa Medina & Ananias P. Soria (USA), and Kurt Weston (USA).

Inspired by a statement from Cyrée Jarelle Johnson in the book Black Futures, Everyone I Know Is Sick examines how our society excludes disabled and sick people by upholding a false dichotomy of health and sickness. Inviting us to understand disability as a common experience rather than an exception to the norm, the program highlights a range of experiences spanning HIV, COVID, mental health, and aging. The commissioned artists foreground the knowledge and expertise of disabled and sick people in a world still grappling with multiple ongoing pandemics.

Event Information

The anthology film will be played on the hour throughout the day in the KJCC auditorium starting at 10 am. A final screening will begin at 3 pm to kick off KJCC’s “Fridays on the Patio,” a student-run program connecting NYU students and faculty to encourage cultural discussions and build community. This will be followed by a moderated panel discussion at 4 pm, featuring:

Blake Paskal, Artist Engagement and Community Programs Manager at Visual AIDS and Artist Educator at the Studio Museum.

Luna Luis Ortiz, Film Director, Ballroom Photographer, and Coordinator of Community Health/Prevention Services at Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)

Kiara St. James, Community Organizer and Co-founder and Executive Director of the New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG)

We invite you to honor those impacted by HIV/AIDS and participate in a public contemplation of queer health and community survival.

Light refreshments will be available throughout the day. All screenings are free of charge and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served and capacity is limited.

NYU’s Grey Art Gallery and King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Requests for accommodations for events and services should be submitted by November 17. Please email greyartgallery@nyu.edu or call (212) 998-6780 for assistance.

This program is co-sponsored by CEMS, CLACS, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the NYU LGBTQ+ Center, and the Museum Studies Student Organization.

Visual AIDS is a New York-based non-profit that utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy—because AIDS is not over.

Video Synopses

Dorothy Cheung, Heart Murmurs
Heart Murmurs is a poetic dialogue between the filmmaker and Dean, a young man living in Hong Kong. In reflecting on his experience living with a congenital disability and HIV during the first years of the COVID pandemic, Dean expresses his sense of self in the face of regular medical challenges.

Hiura Fernandes and Lili Nascimento, Aquela criança com AID$ (That Child with AID$)
That Child with AID$ tells the story of Brazilian advocate and artist Lili Nascimento, who was born with HIV in 1990. Lili has worked to expand narratives about living with HIV beyond the limited images and ideologies that permeate the AIDS industry.

Beau Gomez, This Bed I Made
This Bed I Made presents the bed as a place of solace and agency beyond just a site of illness or isolation. Through the shared stories of two Filipino men living with HIV, the video explores modes of care, restoration, and abundance in the midst of pandemic pervasion.

Dolissa Medina and Ananias P. Soria, Viejito/Enfermito/Grito (Old Man/Sick Man/Shout)
Ananias, a San Francisco Bay Area artist and immigrant, performs the folkloric Danza de los Viejitos (the Dance of the Old Men). Originally from Michoacán, Mexico, where the dance originates, Ananias interprets its movements through the lens of his spirituality, his long-term HIV-related disabilities, and his search for a place in the world.

Kurt Weston, Losing the Light
Losing the Light reflects the artist’s bitter battle to stay in this world as a long-term survivor of AIDS who has lost his vision to CMV retinitis. An experimental self-portrait, the video evokes the dissolution and fragmentation of the artist’s body, representing the impact of blindness, long-term HIV infection, and the cumulative effects of decades of antiretroviral medication.

Resource Guide

The resource guide for Everyone I Know Is Sick, provides contextual information about this year's program, discussion questions, and links to more resources. The guide can also be a resource for hosts and educators who introduce the program or facilitate discussion afterwards.