PRESENTATION:In A Dream You Saw A Way To Survive and You Were Filled With Joy

Founded as a grassroots advocacy effort in 2011, the New York City AIDS Memorial is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to honoring the more than 100,000 New Yorkers who have died of AIDS. It also recognizes the vital contributions of the caregivers and activists who mobilized to provide care, fight discrimination, lobby for research, and transform the drug approval process—ultimately altering the trajectory of the epidemic.

By Efi Michalaro
Photo: David Kordansky Gallery Archive

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, the New York City AIDS Memorial has partnered with David Kordansky Gallery to present “In A Dream You Saw A Way To Survive and You Were Filled With Joy”. The exhibition creates a bridge across eras by pairing historic works made from 1971 to 1994 with newly created contemporary pieces. Landmark works by LGBTQ+ artists and estates—including Joe Brainard, General Idea, Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, Harold Stevenson, Tom of Finland, David Wojnarowicz, and Jimmy Wright—are displayed alongside new creations by leading contemporary artists, such as Cy Gavin, Hugh Hayden, Loie Hollowell, Shara Hughes, Sam McKinniss, Hilary Pecis, Adam Pendleton, and Nicole Wittenberg. Together, these creators form an intergenerational conversation surrounding queer art, culture, identity, memory, and experience. The exhibition takes its title from artist Jenny Holzer’s seminal “Survival Series” (1983–1985) work, “In A Dream You Saw A Way to Survive And You Were Full of Joy”. Holzer also designed the Memorial’s iconic granite paver installation in Greenwich Village.

The enduring partnership between the creative community and the Memorial’s mission is woven directly into the artists’ reflection on their work. Executive Director Dave Harper emphasizes that artists have long served as vital stewards of the site, sustaining its energy through memory work, public programming, and fundraising. For participating creators, the exhibition provides both a sanctuary and a platform for collective action. Adam Pendleton points to the urgent need to preserve cross-generational networks forged through trauma, positioning the Memorial as an essential keeper of these cultural lineages. This spirit of mutual support is echoed in Loie Hollowell’s contribution, which centers on passing down embodied knowledge to friends—a gesture of community care that mirrors the grass-roots mobilization central to early AIDS activism. Looking to the past while addressing the present, Aaron Michael Skolnick reminds us that tenderness itself is a form of strength, while Justin Liam O’Brien uses painting to construct a timeless, protective world for a friend amid crisis. Ultimately, as Kyle Dunn notes, the benefit exhibition extends a decade-long tradition of creative engagement, where artists continually draw on the site and its history to sustain a shared, ongoing effort.

Since its dedication in 2016, the NYC AIDS Memorial has presented the work of more than 260 artists, musicians, choreographers, filmmakers, and writers through exhibitions, public art commissions, performances, screenings, readings, and interdisciplinary programs. Its rich history includes landmark projects by Jenny Holzer, Jim Hodges, and Oscar Tuazon. Building upon the success of the Memorial’s 2021 benefit auction with Christie’s, “Unquestioning Love”, this exhibition extends an ongoing collective effort to advance the Memorial’s mission as both a vital site of remembrance and a dynamic platform for activism, culture, public art, and community engagement.

Participating artists: Leilah Babirye, Gretchen Bender, Joe Brainard, Jared Buckhiester, Kyle Dunn, George Dureau, Austin Eddy, Cy Gavin, General Idea, Sam Gilliam, Jennifer Guidi, Simon Haas, Hugh Hayden, Loie Hollowell, Shara Hughes, Peter Hujar, Natia Lemay, Glenn Ligon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Chris Martin, Ryan McGinley, Sam McKinniss, Jamie Nares, Justin Liam O’Brien, Paul P., Hilary Pecis, Adam Pendleton, Jack Pierson, Peter Shear, Aaron Michael Skolnick, Harold Stevenson, Alessandro Teoldi, Hank Willis Thomas, Wolfgang Tillmans, Richard Tinkler, Tom of Finland, Nicole Wittenberg, David Wojnarowicz, and Jimmy Wright.

Photo: General Idea, Great AIDS (Cadmium Orange Light), 1990 / 2019, acrylic on linen, 59 x 59 inches (149.9 x 149.9 cm), © General Idea, Courtesy the artists and David Kordansky Gallery

Info: Organizers: Keith Fox & Stephen Truax, David Kordansky Gallery, 520 W. 20th St., New York, NY, USA, Duration: 28-31/10/2026, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.davidkordanskygallery.com/