Chloe Dzubilo
1960-2011

Chloe Dzubilo was a groundbreaking artist, musician, and transgender activist whose work and advocacy transformed New York City's cultural landscape and public policy throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Her multifaceted career spanned punk muisc, visual art, nightlife, and tireless political activism, particularly focused on systemic change for transgender people and those living with HIV/AIDS.

After moving to New York in 1982, Dzubilo quickly immersed herself in the downtown scene, working briefly at Studio 54 before becoming the advertising director at the influential East Village Eye during the neighborhood's artistic explosion. This position established her as a connector within New York's underground cultural movements, where she developed a network that would later fuel her political organizing.

Dzubilo was a pivotal figure in New York's transgressive art and nightlife scenes. She collaborated extensively with the Blacklips Performance Cult at the legendary Pyramid Club, both performing in and writing plays for the group while editing their zine, "Leif Sux." As the charismatic frontwoman and songwriter for punk bands, Dzubilo used music as a political platform. Dzubilo's influence extended throughout downtown creative circles, serving as muse to fashion designers including Marc Jacobs and Patricia Field. She appeared in numerous independent films including "Visiting Desire," by Beth B. staring alongside Lydia Lunch, while also modeling for renowned photographers such as Nan Goldin and Steven Klein. Her visual artwork, often created in ink on paper, has been exhibited internationally.

Diagnosed with HIV in 1987 following the AIDS-related death of her partner of nine years, Pyramid Club founder Bobby Bradley, Dzubilo transformed her personal trauma into forceful political action. Rejecting academic theory in favor of direct policy intervention, she became a fierce advocate for solutions to the challenges facing transgender people living with HIV/AIDS. Dzubilo voluntered for the LGBT Community Center's Gender Identity Project, conducting street-level HIV prevention outreach in bars, nightclubs, and areas where sex workers operated. She was an active member of Transgender Menace and in 1997 directed one of the first federally funded HIV prevention programs specifically for transgender sex workers—becoming the first transgender person recognized by the Kaiser Foundation's Daily Health Policy Report for her groundbreaking work.

In 2003, Dzubilo was appointed to the HIV and Human Service Planning Council of New York, an advisory body composed of people living with HIV/AIDS, service providers, and government representatives. This appointment formalized her role in ensuring that "people living with HIV have access to appropriate, quality services across the continuum of care, resulting in the best possible health and quality of life."

Throughout her life, Dzubilo fought against discriminatory housing policies and inadequate healthcare for transgender people living with HIV/AIDS. From 2000 until her death in 2011, she lived at The Prince George, a supportive housing facility where she continued her activism by advocating for better conditions and more responsive policies. When leadership changed at the facility, she spoke out against increasingly restrictive policies and environments that failed to meet residents' needs, particularly transgender residents.

In 2002, Dzubilo made history as the first transgender person to appear on the cover of POZ, a magazine for the HIV/AIDS community. 

Following her death on February 18, 2011, the Chloe Faith Dzubilo Papers were established at the Fales Library and Special Collections at New York University, Visual Aids and Participant Inc, preserving her legacy as an artist and activist. In 2011, the Chloe Awards were created to celebrate individuals whose work embodies the spirit of Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Chloe Dzubilo herself—pioneers who transformed policies and perceptions around transgender rights and HIV/AIDS activism. In 2017, her work was featured in the exhibition "AIDS at Home" at the Museum of the City of New York, further cementing her place in the history of NYC's cultural and activist movements.

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Since 2011, the Estate of Chloe Dzubilo has organized exhibitions, screenings, and publications of the work of Chloe Dzubilo. The Estate encourages scholarship and continues to archive and consolidate information on her work.

The Estate of Chloe Dzubilo is managed by Participant Inc. For exhibitions and research inquiries, please contact Lia Gangitano at lia@participantinc.org.

Chloe Dzubilo's work belongs to the Visual AIDS Artist+ Registry.

Chloe Dzubilo’s ephemeral archive belongs to The Fales Library & Special Collections at New York University, which includes the personal papers of artists, filmmakers, writers, and performers; archives of art galleries, theater groups, and art collectives; and collections relating to AIDS activism, music, and theater.

For loan and reproduction rights for archival material, please contact fales.library@nyu.edu.