Andrew Durbin, author and editor-in-chief of Frieze Magazine, has released a dual biography exploring the lives and work of photographer Peter Hujar and sculptor Paul Thek, two influential gay artists whose careers unfolded during the years before and amid the AIDS crisis. Titled *The Wonderful World That Almost Was*, the book draws on nearly five years of research to examine the men’s friendship, creative collaboration, and enduring impact on 20th-century queer art.

Hujar and Thek both died from complications related to AIDS within a year of each other—Hujar in 1987 and Thek in 1988—but their artistic legacies have recently reemerged in cultural discourse. Hujar was notably portrayed by actor Ben Whishaw in the 2025 film *Peter Hujar’s Day*, and his photographs have appeared as cover art for works by Anohni and the Johnsons as well as Hanya Yanagihara’s novel *A Little Life*. Thek’s acclaim has been slower to develop, in part because much of his most significant work consisted of large-scale European installations that no longer exist and left few physical artifacts. However, Durbin asserts that Thek’s recognition is poised to grow substantially.

Durbin’s book tour began in Berlin, coinciding with an exhibition of Hujar’s photography at the Gropius Bau gallery, running through June 28. The biography aims to reposition the artists beyond narratives centered solely on AIDS and tragedy, instead focusing on their vibrant lives from the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s. Durbin emphasizes that the work captures the full complexity of their relationship, including love, conflict, and creative exchange.

Hujar and Thek met in the late 1950s in Florida and later became close neighbors and lovers on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Their artistic practices intersected in striking ways: Hujar’s photographs documented queer life with candor and intimacy, while Thek created provocative sculptures such as his “meat pieces,” wax-anatomy installations inspired in part by a trip the two took to Palermo’s Capuchin Catacombs in 1963. Both resisted artistic categorization, with Thek often destroying or deliberately obfuscating his work to prevent commercialization, and Hujar avoiding confinement to a strictly gay artistic identity despite his extensive documentation of queer subjects.

Their relationship, central to both their personal lives and art, began fracturing by the mid-1970s. Thek’s final photo sessions with Hujar in 1975 produced some of the photographer’s most revealing portraits. Thek’s last letter to Hujar, written while Hujar was working on his only book published in his lifetime, *Portraits in Life and Death* (1976), reflects an openness and ongoing creative dialogue despite their estrangement.

Durbin’s work also highlights the impact of the AIDS epidemic on how queer artists have been remembered. He notes how many families at the time sought to erase the fact of the illness and the queerness of those who died, leading to lost archives and scattered collections. His book serves as both a literary recovery and a call to recognize the broader contributions of these artists beyond their premature deaths.

The renewed interest in Hujar and Thek is evident in multiple concurrent exhibitions and retrospectives. In New York, the Museum of Modern Art is hosting a screening series, while galleries including Ortuzar Projects and Galerie Buchholz have mounted shows dedicated to the artists. The Paul Thek Foundation, which preserves Thek’s legacy, describes this moment as a significant breakthrough for an artist who had no presence in American institutions when he passed away.

*The Wonderful World That Almost Was* was published on April 14 in the United States and Australia, with a UK release following on April 23. The biography reaffirms the cultural and historical importance of Hujar and Thek, offering new perspectives on their work and underscoring the complex realities of their lives amid a fraught era for queer artists.