G
Directing
Gregg Bordowitz
Born August 14, 1964 · Brooklyn, New York, USA (age 62)
Gregg Bordowitz is a writer, artist, and activist who worked as a professor in the Video, New Media, and Animation department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. He was appointed director of the Whitney Program in 2023.
Known For
The Suicide · 1997The Suicide
1997
MovieDrama
The protagonist, Semyon, tries to unyoke himself from the enforced optimism of a bureaucratic order that prohibits any discussion of disappointment and despair following the revolution.
Two Men and a Baby · 1993Two Men and a Baby
★ 3.71993
MovieDocumentary
Ray and Tyrone are raising Ray's nephew Eric, whose mother died of AIDS-related illness. When Eric contracts pneumonia, they discover that he is HIV positive.
Fast Trip, Long Drop · 1994Fast Trip, Long Drop
★ 4.51994
MovieDocumentary
A gay jewish man speaks out about living with and dying from AIDS. He also discusses how being gay has affected his identity as a jew and his relationship with his parents.
Habit · 2002Habit
★ 10.02002
MovieDocumentary
HABIT is an autobiographical documentary that follows the current history of the AIDS epidemic along several trajectories. The organizing structure is built around the daily routine of the videomaker -- a veteran AIDS activist in the U.S., and a person who has been living with AIDS for over ten years. As the videomaker moves through his day, attending to mundane errands, eating, taking pills, having conversations with friends (some who have diseases like AIDS and Breast Cancer, and others who are healthy), memories of a recent trip to South Africa reoccur and interrupt the routine. In South Africa, the videomaker meets people with AIDS, fighting to get access to the same life saving drugs that he depends on to survive. It is estimated that there are over four million people infected with HIV in South Africa. The vast majority of people with AIDS in Africa do not have access to medical treatment.
Portraits of People Living With HIV · 1993Portraits of People Living With HIV
1993
Movie
An up-close compilation of interviews and discussions with people living with HIV in the early 1990s.
Only Idiots Smile · 2017Only Idiots Smile
2017
MovieDocumentary
"Gregg Bordowitz's 2017 performance lecture "Only Idiots Smile" features the artist on a stool in the New Museum's top-floor sky room, riffing on the formation of his identity. At one point, he explains his 'Jewish identity is the template thru which I understand all my other identities… how to appear to others, how we’d like to seem to others,' how others might frame themselves to be seen by us. In this way, Bordowitz gestures at what seems to be the most legible piece of this exhibition, templates for framing — each artist explores variations on the frame through presentation, history, fantasy, sculptural construction, and material." — Rindon Johnson
Filmography
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