David Wojnarowicz
American, 1954-1992
Untitled (Buffalos)
INV-2387
David Wojnarowicz
American, 1954-19921988–89
Untitled (Buffalos)
David Wojnarowicz American, 1954-1992 →photographphotography
Date
1988–89
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
102.9 × 121.9 cm (40 1/2 × 48 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by Eric and Liz Lefkofsky; Mary and Leigh Block and Wirt D. Walker Trust funds
Untitled (Buffalos) depicts a diorama from the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., of a traditional Native American hunting method in which plains bison were herded toward cliffs, forcing them to plunge to their death. Interdisciplinary artist David Wojnarowicz selectively framed a portion of the display in black and white as an allegory of the decade as he was dying of AIDS. At once analogy and piercing critique, the image embodies the tragedy of the pandemic and offers an indictment of a nation at odds with itself.
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