VAVA VOOM honoring Tom Bianchi, Muna Tseng and Joyce McDonald

The 14th Annual Visual AIDS Vanguard Awards & Spring Gala

Thursday, May 16, 2019 • 6:30-10:00 PM

Tribeca 360°

10 Desbrosses Street, NYC

Honoring:

Tom Bianchi presented by Michael Denneny

Muna Tseng presented by Julie Tolentino

Joyce McDonald presented by Shirlene Cooper

Hosts: Tyler Ashley and Pamela Sneed

Performances by: Stanley Love Performance Group and special guests

Music: DJ Matthew J

Live Portraits of Guests by: Richard Haines

Co-Chairs: Patrick Owens and Gary Martin • Diana and Rafael Viñoly

Silent Auction Chair: David Yarritu • View and bid on the silent auction, powered by Artsy. The auction closes at 10pm on May 16th.

Benefit Committee: Joey Arias • Julie Ault • Morgan Bassichis • Niki Berg • Chris Bogia and Rod Sayegh • Austen Brandford • Yoshiko Chuma • Shirlene Cooper • Creative Artists Agency • Michael Crisafulli and Morton Newburgh • Daniel Cooney Fine Art • Mary Engel • Gordon Robichaux • Chris Gray • Carlos Gutierrez-Solana • Hales Gallery • Jim Hodges • John Kelly • Christine and Donald Kursch • Joseph Lovett and James Cottrell • Joe Mantello and Paul Marlow • Stefani Mar and Barry Frier • Susan Matthews and Friends • Lucas Michael • Duane Michals • Jennifer Morton • Ragnar Naess • Jay Pagano and Mark Fortier • Cynthia Powell • P.P.O.W. • Jody Quon and Gordon Finkelstein • Ralph M. Randazzo, Esq. and Fredric J. Cantor • Doreen Remen • Nelson Santos and Richard Presser • Chris Satek and Steven Sergiovanni • Torsten Schlauersbach and Benoit Bosc • Eric Shiner • Ben Smales • Pamela Sneed • David Thomson • Vidoun Group • Yvonne Force Villareal • Lauren Wittels

JOIN US FOR: Dinner • Drinks • Art • Music • Celebration

BUY TABLES AND TICKETS HERE. If you can't join us, you can make a donation here.

• Sponsor Table (Table for 10 plus Sponsor Benefits) $10,000
• Gold Patron Table (Table for 10 plus 10 Raffle Tickets) $5,000
• Patron Table (Table for 8 plus 8 Raffle Tickets) $4,000
• Patron Ticket (Includes 1 Raffle Ticket) $500
• Friend Ticket $350
• Raffle Ticket $100

Limited Artist and HIV+ Friend Tickets are available at $175. Please contact Visual AIDS for information.

Honoree Bios:

TOM BIANCHI

Tom Bianchi was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from Northwestern University School of Law in 1970. He became a corporate attorney, eventually working with Columbia Pictures in New York, painting and drawing on weekends. His artwork came to the attention of Betty Parsons and Carol Dreyfuss and they gave him his first one-man painting show in 1980. In 1984, he was given his first solo museum exhibition at the Spoleto Festival. After Bianchi's partner died of AIDS in 1988, he turned his focus to photography, producing Out of the Studio, a candid portrayal of gay intimacy. Its success led to producing numerous monographs, including On the Couch, Deep Sex, In Defense of Beauty, and Fire Island Pines. In 1993 Tom co-founded a biotech company with the mission of developing new HIV/AIDS therapies.

JOYCE MCDONALD

Joyce McDonald is a multidisciplinary artist, focused in sculpture and painting. Her creativity captures in stark relief the range of emotions she has experienced throughout her spirited life. Her artwork was featured on the front page of the New York Times Weekend Arts Section in July 2016 for Holland Cotter's feature article "Art From the Age of AIDS." Group show include: AIDS at Home (Art and Everyday Activism) at the Museum of the City of New York, 2017; Everyday at La Mama Galleria, NY, 2016; PERSONS OF INTEREST at the Bureau of General Services-Queer Division, NY, 2016; HIV+WOMEN+ART at Puffin Foundation Gallery, NJ, 2005; Curated at Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, NY 2004; Visual AIDS: Selections From the Archive Project at Robeson Art Gallery, NJ, 2001; and taken-up at Judson Memorial Church, NY 1999, among others. She has been a steadfast supporter and participant in Visual AIDS' LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN and Day With(out) Art programs. Joyce is a weaver of words: not just as a poet or rapper—she is both—but also as a speaker for her church's AIDS ministry and assistant director of its children's choir. She also practices the art of motherhood in her relationship with her two daughters, two sons-in-law and eight grandchildren.

MUNA TSENG

Muna Tseng was born in Hong Kong, educated in Canada, and has been living and working in New York since arriving in 1977 with her brother, the late photographer Tseng Kwong Chi. Muna is a choreographer, performer, and founder of Muna Tseng Dance Projects Inc., which collaborates with contemporary artists in New York and tours worldwide. She has won awards, including a "Bessies" New York Dance and Performance Award, repeat fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, and New York Foundation for the Arts. Her award-winning dance-theater solo performance SlutForArt, a collaboration with Ping Chong, used photographs by Tseng Kwong Chi and was choreographed and danced by Muna, to reflect on the life of her brother as a sibling and an artist in the 1980s.

After the death of Kwong Chi in 1990 due to AIDS related causes, Muna has managed his photographic estate, taking on the mission of archive conservation, preservation, and provision of access to legacy materials. She has overseen international exhibitions, installations, and publications of Tseng's famous "East Meets West" self-portrait series and the world's largest photo documentation of Keith Haring (a close friend) and other downtown artists and scenes of the 1980s. Currently, his photos are on view at Grey Art Gallery and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art's Art After Stonewall exhibit, in Valencia, Spain, the National Portrait Gallery-Smithsonian, the Nassau Country Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, and in June, at the Tate Liverpool Keith Haring retrospective exhibit.

In 2017, Muna was recognized with a Liberty Award by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, along with the Keith Haring Foundation. She has been invited to give her illustrated talk on the intersection of art, dance, and being Chinese American in the downtown 1980s East Village scene, at museums including the Museum of Modern Art, Seoul Museum of Art, and upcoming on May 19th, at the Nassau County Museum of Art.

Questions about reserving seats or joining the Benefit Committee?
Contact emcgowan@visualaids.org