A Fire in My Belly
About the Work
A Fire in My Belly
A Fire In My Belly, 1986-87/ 2010
Edited by Jonathan D. Katz and Bart Everly
With additional audio added from ACT UP demonstration June 1989 with David Wojnarowicz event
Courtesy of The Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P.P.O.W Gallery, New York and The Fales Library and Special Collections/ New York University
A Fire in My Belly, A Work in Progress is a meditation on death, faith, and suffering, as well as outrage and grief over the AIDS epidemic. It was made in part as a response to the AIDS-related death of his close friend and former lover, Peter Hujar, after which, Wojnarowicz learned that he, too, was infected with HIV. The 13 minute silent film, which was considered unfinished at the time of the artist’s death in 1992, combines black and white footage from the streets of Mexico with staged color images through the use of montage. The religious iconography expresses Wojnarowicz’ anger and complex feelings towards the Catholic church, due to an unpleasant Catholic school education, as well as the Church’s stance against homosexuals.
