Career
Rarely exhibited during his lifetime (he died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome-related illness at age 35), his work has subsequently staged what the Los Angeles Times describes as "a remarkable posthumous comeback," including a mini-retrospective of Greene"s work as part of the 2014 Whitney Biennial exhibition, and additional exhibitions held in Chicago and Los Angeles during 2014, including the University of California, Los Angeles Hammer Museum"s biennial "Made in Los Angeles" exhibition. Greene was awarded an Master of Fine Arts degree from California Institute of the Arts in 1987. David Frantz, curator at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives curated a "show within a show" in the Hammer Museum"s Made in Los Angeles Biennial, featuring Tony Greene"s opulent paintings from 1987-1990, alongside queer and activist artists, documents, and ephemera in dialogue with his work.
