My First Crush, 1993

Terrill has long made a major impact in both queer Chicano art and social activist worlds, exploring the relationship of Chicano identity to homosexuality and gay culture, lingering in the places where they overlap, and occupying the sites where they do not. My First Crush begins as an homage to a grade school crush who marked the artist’s earliest sexual awakening; from this center, expanding circles swirl out to include other classmates, boyfriends, and pop culture icons such as Antonio Banderas and Matt Dillon. As an extension of his art, which he has always approached from a distinctly queer vantage point, Terrill, who tested positive for HIV in 1989, also works as an HIV advocate. Made during the peak of the AIDS crisis, this collage is a pointed celebration of desire and sexuality, love and intimacy, and hope in a dangerous and heartbreaking time.