Tom Rubnitz | |
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 Sister Dimension in "Strawberry Shortcut" | |
| Born | Thomas Block Rubnitz (1956-04-02)April 2, 1956 |
| Died | August 12, 1992(1992-08-12) (aged 36) |
Thomas Block Rubnitz(April 2, 1956 – August 12, 1992) was an American painter,video artist, andAIDS activist. He was a part of the New York Citydrag world of the late 1980s, and he has been described as "an exuberant ethnographer of theEast Village queer scene."[1]
Rubnitz was a pioneer ofvideo art, and his underground films were inspired by pop culture and Las Vegas-style shows. A number of his works featureRuPaul and members ofThe B-52s. He was close with the actress, singer andClub 57 founderAnn Magnuson.[2] He worked with East Village-associated artists includingDavid Wojnarowicz,Lady Bunny, Hapi Phace, andJohn Sex.[3] Rubnitz cameos as the bartender in the B-52s' music videoLove Shack.
Rubnitz and the B-52s produced apublic service announcement for the Art Against AIDS organization's "Summer of Love" project in 1987. The work visually referenced the cover ofSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band byThe Beatles intableau vivant form, featuring theB-52s,Willi Ninja,Allen Ginsberg,Nam Jun Paik,Quentin Crisp,Lady Bunny,David Byrne, and others.[4]
His works also include the spoof cooking videos "Strawberry Shortcut" and "Pickle Surprise" (1989).[5][6][7]
The film "Listen to This" (1992), a collaboration withDavid Wojnarowicz and unfinished at the time of his death, critiques theReagan andBush Administrations for their failures addressing the AIDS crisis. The film was shown atMoMA's 2017-18 exhibitClub 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983.[8][9] It was also shown at OutFest in Los Angeles in 2014, and at Seoul International New Media in 2015.[10]
Rubnitz said of his art, “I wanted to make things beautiful, funny and positive—escapes that you could just get into and laugh through. That was really important to me.”[2]
Rubnitz was born inChicago in 1956. He graduated fromNew Trier High School inWinnetka, Illinois, and then attended theKansas City Art Institute in Missouri, where he earned aB.F.A. Rubnitz later moved to New York City, where he worked at thePhyllis Kind Gallery in SoHo, known for showcasingoutsider art and Chicago-based artists.[11] Rubnitz was openly gay, and worked through his art to raise awareness ofHIV/AIDS and the need for a cure.[6] He died of an AIDS-related illness in August 1992, at the age of 36.
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