Nayland Blake and Justin Vivian Bond introduce us to the art and life of the extraordinary Jerome Caja (1958–1995), an artist and provocateur who transgressed the supposed boundaries of gender, performance, and art in the nightclub scene in San Francisco during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Caja’s outsize personality was matched by his powerful visual art, made with nontraditional materials like nail polish and human ashes, which details with humor, pathos, and deep insight the struggles of living with AIDS, finding love, and surviving.

With additional contributions by Anthony Cianciolo, Craig Corpora, Anna van der Meulen, Amy Scholder, and Chris E. Vargas.

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DUETS is a series of publications that pairs artists, activists, writers, and thinkers in dialogues about their creative practices and current social issues around HIV/AIDS. These engaging and highly readable conversations highlight the connections between communities of artists and activists. Drawing from the Visual AIDS Artist Registry and Archive Project, this series continues Visual AIDS’ mission to support, promote, and honor the work of artists with HIV/AIDS and the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement.