Luna Luis Ortiz in COMPULSIVE PRACTICE

Luna Luis Ortiz was born in New York City in 1972. In 1986, he was infected with HIV at the age of 14 from his first sexual experience. In 1988, he began his journey as an HIV awareness spokesperson for youth living with HIV at the Hetrick-Martin Institute, and has worked at GMHC since 2007. He then studied photography at the School of Visual Arts and has worked with the photographers David LaChapelle, Lisa Ross, Shedrich Williames and Nan Goldin. The Luna Show is a show about the voguing scene and the people involved in the House/Ball community, one of the hardest hit communities by the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Luna Show has been viewed by 2 million people worldwide.

Excerpts of Ortiz’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.