In 1979 he moved to New York, although continued to exhibit works in Australia. One such exhibition was Art Clothes at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Here he exhibited alongside designers such as Jenny Kee, Linda Jackson and his former lover Peter Tully. He worked with many of these as a fabric designer throughout the 70s and 80s (see, for example, the photo at the top of this article).

In 1987 he was diagnosed with HIV and decided to return to Australia. Unsurprisingly, his work began to explore the issues around life with HIV and AIDS. One such example is Body Language (below), which combines homoeroticism with the names of lovers who have died from AIDS.

Body Language, 1990, David McDiarmid. Image copyright, and used with consent of, Sally Gray/David McDiarmid Estate.

A similar image was used in an HIV/AIDS awareness poster he produced for the AIDS Council of NSW. This time, the message below the image read “Some of us get out of it, some of us don’t. All of us fuck with condoms – every time.”

Another of McDiarmid’s images used for AIDS awareness campaigns by Australia’s AIDS Councils. Image copyright, and used with consent of, Sally Gray/David McDiarmid Estate.

McDiarmid certainly didn’t wallow in self-pity as his illness progressed. Instead he produced a series of defiant and confrontational works that included Fierce Bitch Seeks Future Ex-Husband; Honey, Have You Got It; It’s My Party and I’ll Die if I Want To and That’s Miss Poofter to You, Asshole.

When his former lover Peter Tully died in 1992, McDiarmid produced the obituary Moody Bitch Dies of AIDS.

David McDiarmid died on 25th May 1995.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

I am particularly grateful to Sally Gray/David McDiarmid Estate for consent to use David’s images. Thanks also to Marcus Bunyan for allowing me to use his photos of the ‘When This You See, Remember Me’ exhibition.