Advanced Search 
Thumbnail-size images of copyrighted artworks are displayed under fair use, in accordance with guidelines recommended by the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts, published by the College Art Association in February 2015.
Untitled (Green male nude)
Jimmy DeSana (American, 1949–1990)
1987
Medium/Technique
Photograph, silver dye bleach (vintage Cibachrome)
Dimensions
Height x width: 25.4 × 20.3 cm (10 × 8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Joan and Michael Salke
Accession Number2022.26
CollectionsContemporary Art, Americas, Prints and Drawings, Photography
ClassificationsPhotographs / Prints
Jimmy DeSana quickly became a beloved member of New York’s East Village cultural scene in the 1980s, often capturing the community as subjects for his documentary and memorial photographs. He also pictured himself and friends to claim the right to his and their queer identity. After contracting HIV in the 1980s shortly before he made this series, DeSana used photography to represent and celebrate queer bodies even when they were under threat.
ProvenanceBy 1990, gift of the artist to David Cortez, New York; 2019, sold by Diego Cortez to Joan and Michael Salke, West Stockbridge, MA and Boca Raton, FL; 2022, gift of Joan and Michael Salke to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 16, 2022)