11″x14″; gelatin silver print; 1978-1979/2004. Edition 4 of 6. WOJ-E195. Courtesy of PPOW, New York.
COLLAGE ON VIEW
Arthur Rimbaud in New York
at The Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York, New York, USA
1 October 2025-18 January 2026
In 1978 and 1979, David Wojnarowicz took a series of photographs of a man wearing a paper mask bearing the visage of Arthur Rimbaud, the French poet equally known for his fervid verse and dramatic life. Rimbaud was the instantiation, and perhaps the inventor, of the idea of the young gay hustler of genius. “Arthur Rimbaud in New York” is the most comprehensive display of this seminal work, produced between 1978 and 1979, and originally made public through the weekly publication SOHO News in 1982.
8″x10″; gelatin silver print; 1978-1979. Collection of Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip Aarons.
The exhibition, curated by Antonio Sergio Bessa, is accompanied by a limited edition print from the Rimbaud series, as well as an amply illustrated 250-page catalog produced in collaboration with SKIRA, Milan, featuring an introductory essay by Bessa setting the “Rimbaud in New York” series in the context of works that crossover different disciplines including literature, photography, and performance; and additional essays by Nicholas Martin on the importance of Rimbaud to the emerging counterculture scene in New York in the 1970s; Marguerite Van Cook’s personal account of her friendship with Wojnarowicz in the developing Lower East Side gallery and club scene; Craig Dworkin’s scholarly incursion into the topic of “the poet on strike,” as it relates to both Rimbaud’s and Wojnarowicz’s attraction to the boheme; and Anna Vitale’s exploration on the significance of the Rimbaud mask.
(text adapted from material provided by the gallery)
INFORMATION
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art
26 Wooster Street
New York, New York 10013 USA
(212) 431-2609
Hours:
Wednesday, Noon-5PM
Thursday-Sunday, Noon-6PM