Doug Ashford, Julie Ault, Group Material

In 1989, the members of Group Material--Doug Ashford, Julie Ault, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Karen Ramspacher--were invited by the MATRIX Gallery at the Berkeley University Art Museum to deal with the subject of AIDS. The artists assembled their research into an overview, structured by year, of the circumstances under which the epidemic had turned into a national crisis. Among the objects of investigation were events in the fields of medicine, politics, and statistics, representations...
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In 1989, the members of Group Material--Doug Ashford, Julie Ault, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Karen Ramspacher--were invited by the MATRIX Gallery at the Berkeley University Art Museum to deal with the subject of AIDS. The artists assembled their research into an overview, structured by year, of the circumstances under which the epidemic had turned into a national crisis. Among the objects of investigation were events in the fields of medicine, politics, and statistics, representations of AIDS in the media, and artistic responses. The AIDS Timeline, which is reprinted in this notebook, supplies background information on the widespread stigmatization of people with AIDS, documents the impact that homophobia and racism had on the formation of public policy, and places these structures in a larger sociopolitical context.Doug Ashford (*1958) is an artist, writer, and Associate Professor at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. Julie Ault (*1957) works as an artist, curator, editor, and writer.