Ray Navarro in COMPULSIVE PRACTICE

Ray Navarro (1964–1990) was an artist, filmmaker and activist. He attended Cal Arts in California and moved to New York in 1988 to go to the Whitney Independent Study Program, and soon joined ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). He was also a member of DIVA TV (Damned Interfering Video Activists), a video-documenting affinity group of ACT UP. DIVA TV documented public testimony, the media, and community activism to motivate the fight against AIDS. Navarro died of AIDS related complications at the age of 36.

Excerpts of Navarro’s videos were featured as part of COMPULSIVE PRACTICE, curated by Jean Carlomusto, Alexandra Juhasz, and Hugh Ryan for Visual AIDS in 2016. The program compiled compulsive, daily, and habitual video practices by nine artists and activists who live with their cameras as one way to manage, reflect upon, and change how they are deeply affected by HIV/AIDS.