General Idea was a Canadian collective comprising Felix Partz (1945-1994), Jorge Zontal (1944-1994) and AA Bronson (1946). It was founded in the late 1960s when the mass media was becoming increasingly influential and was blurring the line between the authentic art object and the reproduction. The collective employed subversive strategies. From 1986 the group focussed on highlighting issues around the AIDS epidemic. For example, they adapted Robert Indiana’s famous ‘LOVE’ symbol to create an ‘AIDS’ logo. In this installation, De Stijl functions as a cry for help. The primary colour yellow in Mondrian’s and Rietveld’s famous works is infected by the virus, making it green. The three chairs represent the members of General Idea, two of whom died from AIDS-related illnesses.
Title
Aids Wallpaper
Artist
General Idea
Felix Patz (1945 - 1994)
Jorge Zontal (Parma 1944 - 1994 Toronto)
AA Bronson (Toronto 1946)
Dating
1990
Material and technique
Object number
34852
Object type
Acquisition
aankoop met steun van de Vereniging Rembrandt 2018 (gezamenlijke aankoop met Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam)
Remarks
gezamenlijke aankoop met Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Documentation
- Centraal Museum Utrecht [topstukken; 2020], Voorw. Bart Rutten, Marco Grob, Jacqueline Rutten (prod.), Hans Schopping, Sheila Stafleu, Lotte Bont, Thomas de Bruin (red.), (Bulletin van de Vereniging Rembrandt, 29, 3, najaar 2019), p. 110, p. 111 afb. in kleur
Exhibitions
Persistent url
To refer to this object please use the following persistent URL: https://hdl.handle.net/21.12130/collect.831BC66F-A098-468A-8CBD-34FAC7B96413
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