Andrew Durbin

A Hard Stare: Peter Hujar, Paul Thek, and Their Circle on Film | MoMA Film series. Apr 21–25, 2026. On the occasion of the publication of Andrew Durbin’s dual biography The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek, we present a four-day scree...

A film program inspired by my forthoming book on Peter Hujar and Paul Thek will run next month at the MoMA.

More info:

www.moma.org/calendar/fil...

Amazing to see these words of praise for @andrew-durbin.bsky.social's The Wonderful World That Almost Was:

‘Masterful...Awash with light & clarity...This important book thrums with the lives & works of its subjects. It is a love story, a history & a moving meditation on art and memory’ Jack Parlett

B&W photo of a man's face covered in rocks & dirt as if emerging from or buried within the earth

From the great David Wojnarowicz (thread):

"I wake up every morning in this killing machine called america & I’m carrying this rage like a blood filled egg & there’s a thin line between inside & the outside a thin line between thought & action & that line is simply made up of blood & muscle & bone"

Wonderful encomium for @andrew-durbin.bsky.social's Hujar/Thek book.

‘This is a great American love story that is also an indispensable account of the growth & emergence of Peter Hujar & Paul Thek as influential artists’ Colm Tóibín

(And great that Peter Hujar's Day is finally in UK cinemas.)

And another from the great Wolfgang Tillmans:

‘An era long lost becomes vividly tangible in these pages... @andrew-durbin.bsky.social turns his almost forensic research into a seriously entertaining read’

The Wonderful World That Almost Was

Robert Glück will be in London speaking with Andrew Durbin at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, on Thursday January 8th.

Buy a ticket soon because it might sell out. If you don't know him: Glück is the author of Margery Kempe, Jack the Modernist, and About Ed, all of which we proud to publish.

This May Have Been Life | Andrew Durbin There are only a few surviving recordings of the photographer Peter Hujar’s voice. In the portion of his archive at the Morgan Library in New York, a

“Filmed by Alex Ashe on gorgeous, grainy 16mm film, the movie is [presented as] an analog artifact, like a photograph printed in a darkroom: this may have been life, but it is only an image, a fiction, now.” —@andrew-durbin.bsky.social on Peter Hujar’s Day

Quote from the essay that reads "During the session Ginsberg advises Hujar how to warm up William S. Burroughs for a portrait (“suck his cock”) after he learns that Hujar will shoot the novelist the following day."

Including some solid advice from Allen Ginsberg

Very excited to go see Ira Sachs's Peter Hujar's Day, with Ben Wishaw as Hujar. Almost as excited as I am to be publishing @andrew-durbin.bsky.social's magisterial dual biography of Hujar & Paul Thek.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD THAT ALMOST WAS: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek (April 2026)

This May Have Been Life | Andrew Durbin There are only a few surviving recordings of the photographer Peter Hujar’s voice. In the portion of his archive at the Morgan Library in New York, a

Proud to publish this thoughtful review of Peter Hujar's Day by Hujar expert and man of good taste @andrew-durbin.bsky.social

Celia Paul in London

Celia Paul, open now at Victoria Miro in London

Spring is coming and the American world is ending 🌷

“Canada is not known to be a major source of fentanyl, or other synthetic opioids.
Last year,U.S.Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted about 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border,compared with almost 9,600 kilograms at the border with Mexico”

19 kilos. Trump is such a jackass.

Petition for a collection of all of 26-year-old WK’s marginalia.

remember stuff like this when they tell you that diversity means a lowering of standards

Joseph Kosuth

Who likes Linda Rosenkrantz's Talk?

Her book, Peter Hujar's Day, has been adapted into a movie by Ira Sachs (Passages) and recently premiered at Sundance!

Congrats to everyone involved. We look forward to seeing.

Joanne Kyger’s experimental TV.

W.G. Sebald

Can someone start reissuing all the old James Purdy novels? The world needs to know.

Joe Brainard by James Schuyler ❤️

In an era of resurgent nationalism, representing a country is a difficult task for many artists. Yet, the challenge itself might yield innovative and necessary results. So long as we are saddled with these ageing buildings in the Giardini, why not ask a new generation to spruce up the place?

The British Pavilion desperately needs a refresh; it has lost the element of surprise, once a guiding principle of contemporary art, leaving the impression that UK has run out of young talent.

Historically, national pavilions have proven more useful in debuting talent on a global stage than cementing reputations ... Before 2000, the average age of an artist presenting at the British Pavilion was 40. Since then, it has crept up to 52.

Out of the 14 artists exhibited in the British Pavilion since 1997, ten were born in the 1960s. Of the remaining four, Phyllida Barlow was born in 1944; Gilbert and George in 1943 and 1942, respectively; and Mark Wallinger in 1959. What an astonishing run for artists born before the lunar landing.

Venice Biennale 2026: Give the British Pavilion to a Young Artist In recent decades, most artists representing the UK in Venice have been born in the 1960s. Did Britain stop innovating?

The British Pavilion used to take chances on younger artists. But about two decades ago, it suddenly stopped. Why?

www.frieze.com/article/veni...