Untitled (Falling Buffalos): David Wojnarowicz

David Wojnarowicz's "Untitled (Falling Buffaloes)" (1988-89) is a poignant black-and-white photograph featuring a horde of buffaloes plunging over a cliff. Created during the height of the AIDS crisis, the image serves as a powerful metaphor for the overwhelming loss, devastation, and sense of being driven to extinction felt by the gay community at the time. The falling buffaloes evoke a sense of helplessness, mass death, and societal indifference to the suffering caused by the epidemic. It's a stark and emotionally resonant work that captures the trauma and grief of a specific historical moment.

David, Wonjarowicz. Untitled (Falling Buffaloes). Gelatin Silver Print, 1988, www.artic.edu/artworks/238759/untitled-buffalos. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Photo, print

The student curator has determined that the use of the following material qualifies as fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act for the purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research.

Estate of David Wojnarowicz and PPOW, New York

Purchased with funds provided by Eric and Liz Lefkofsky; Mary and Leigh Block and Wirt D. Walker Trust funds

40.5" x 48"