Conversations in the Archives | Visual AIDS

Kyle Croft and Jacs Rodriguez, Visual AIDS | Recorded August 2024

For this episode, Hauser & Wirth Institute Executive Director Lisa Darms spoke with Kyle Croft and Jacs Rodriguez of Visual AIDS, the venerable New York-based organization devoted to preserving and honoring the work of artists with HIV/AIDS. Jacs and Kyle discuss some of the encounters that first drew them to memory work; the limitations of art historical methods that focus on documents, at the expense of living artists; what consent means in the context of sharing archives, and the critical role that families play in caring for the archives of their loved ones.

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Kyle Croft is the Executive Director of Visual AIDS. In his six years with the organization, he has worked to preserve the legacies of artists lost to AIDS and support a global community of artists living with HIV. He co-edited Visual AIDS’s recent monograph on the late artist Darrel Ellis, as well as volumes on Frederick Weston and the curator William Olander. He holds an MA in art history from Hunter College.

Jacs Rodriguez is the community archivist at Visual AIDS and a recent MLIS graduate of Pratt Institute. Their work at Visual AIDS is focused on accessibility and engagement with the archive, including publishing finding aids for current collections. Their professional interests lie in community and marginalized archives, as well as anything related to cemeteries. 

Founded in 1988, Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting artists living with HIV, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over. For 35 years, Visual AIDS has produced and commissioned public programs, exhibitions, films, publications, and research opportunities while celebrating the work of artists living with HIV and stewarding the legacies of those lost to AIDS. Visual AIDS is committed to catalyzing contemporary dialogue around HIV and AIDS today, while preserving and honoring the artistic contributions of the early AIDS movement.

Mentioned during the conversation:

Visual AIDS Archive and Artist Registry
Visual AIDS Artist Files Finding Aid
Viral Cultures: Activist Archiving in the Age of AIDS, Marika Cifor
Art, Identity and Legacy: Ching Ho Cheng, Miguel Ferrando, and Tseng Kwong Chi (event)
Ching Ho Cheng 
Tseng Kwong Chi 
Miguel Ferrando
Legacies: Asian American Art Movements in New York City (1969-2001) 
Darrel Ellis, published by Visual AIDS
Darrel Ellis: Regeneration, at the Bronx Museum
Darrel Ellis and Miguel Ferrando, at Candice Madey Gallery
The Second Annual Visual AIDS Research Symposium
Primary Information
Becky Trotter

View a transcript of the conversation here.