Love Rules

The Harm Reduction Archives of Richard Berkowitz and Heather Edney

Opens Apr 25

  • Upcoming
  • Homeroom
  • Exhibition
Two books side by side one titled "How to have sex in an epidemic: one approach" and the other titled "A safety manual for injection drug users"
How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach and Getting Off Right: A Safety Manual for Injection Drug Users. 1983 and 1998. Instructional manuals. Courtesy Richard Berkowitz and Heather Edney.

Visual AIDS presents an exhibition in Homeroom that charts the early development and impact of harm reduction across the US in the late-twentieth century. Founded in 1988, the organization utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving their legacies—because AIDS is not over. Following their inaugural Homeroom presentation in 2020, this exhibition features materials from the archives of writers and activists Richard Berkowitz and Heather Edney—photography, DIY publications, and other ephemera—detailing the creation of safe sex guidelines and safer injection practices. Centering the expertise of sex workers and drug users, the presentation highlights how harm reduction strategies used by social services today are informed by the work of those most directly impacted by the AIDS epidemic and drug-related overdoses.

Dates

April 25–October 6, 2025

2025-04-25
2025-10-06

Location

MoMA PS1

22-25 Jackson Avenue Queens, NY 11101

Credits

Organized by Blake Paskal, Programs Manager, Visual AIDS, and Sheldon Gooch, Curatorial Assistant, MoMA PS1, in collaboration with Greg Ellis, Archivist and Curator, Ward 5B Archives.