From May 31–June 16, 2018, Visual AIDS will present Cell Count at La MaMa Galleria in NYC. The show, curated by Kyle Croft and Asher Mones, will feature works by two 7a*11d alumni, including the late Frank Green, who presented an early version of his performance installation Anonymous Test Site at the very first 7a*11d International Festival of Performance Art back in 1997. The show will also feature a performance on Wednesday June 6 by Jordan Arseneault with Mikiki, whose performance NSA was part of our 2016 festival.
Cell Count brings together artists who grapple with the discursive and material histories that underpin HIV criminalization in order to unpack and re-configure the metaphors and assumptions that enable the punishment and incarceration of people living with HIV. Seeking to place HIV criminalization in a broader context, Cell Count suggests that these laws are not unique to the AIDS epidemic but instead echo a long history of medically sanctioned violence and incarceration in the United States.
Cell Count includes work by Barton Lidicé Beneš(1942–2012), Brian Carmichael, Chad Clarke, Chloe Dzubilo (1960–2011), Doreen Garner, Camilo Godoy, Frank Green (1957–2013), Shan Kelley, M. Lamar, Charles Long with Chris Jordan, Alex McClelland, Laurie Jo Reynolds, Muhjah Shakir, and Chris E. Vargas; plus performances by Jordan Arseneault with Mikiki, and Timothy DuWhite.