{"id":47349,"date":"2016-12-08T12:01:19","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T18:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=47349"},"modified":"2016-12-08T12:01:19","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T18:01:19","slug":"aids-legacy-of-loss-told-through-new-exhibit-art-aids-america-chicago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/aids-legacy-of-loss-told-through-new-exhibit-art-aids-america-chicago\/","title":{"rendered":"AIDs legacy of loss told through new exhibit Art AIDs America Chicago"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Hannah Moulthrop <\/strong><\/p>\n

A gong reverberates through the white-walled space once every 10 minutes. Pi\u00f1atas that resemble HIV viruses hang from a swath of ceiling above the staircase. Oversized glass red blood cells are strewn across the floor. These works and\u00a0169 others anchor the new Art AIDS America Chicago<\/a> exhibition at the pop-up Alphawood Gallery in Lincoln Park.<\/p>\n

Here the secrecy surrounding the history of the AIDs plague lifts in art that tells a complicated story of devastation, loss and hope that triggers tears and smiles as viewers navigate the gallery and, in some cases, actively participate in adding to the art.
\n
\nUse your finger to trace the name of a loved one lost to AIDs in sand from Lake Michigan saved inside an antique wooden chest. That could mean writing over the name of another\u2019s loved one. \u201cDad\u201d was etched\u00a0in the sand at one point. An iron gate covered in hundreds of colorful cloth ribbons invites you to commemorate the memory of someone who died of AIDs by adding a ribbon of your own. Pick one or a few from the basket nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI challenge anybody to walk into this exhibition and not feel something,\u201d said Jonathan Katz, exhibit co-curator and director of the visual studies doctoral program at the University of Buffalo.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The skulls in “Eternal Lovers” by Tino Rodriguez represent death alongside life, with imagery taken from Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"An<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Viewer at the Art AIDs America Chicago exhibit opening. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"painted<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
“For Paul”, a hand painted banner by Daniel Sotomayor was originally a gift for Paul Wences that shows his friends and fellow members of the group Test Positive Aware. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"A<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Curators and artists hope viewers will find the exhibit revelatory and see the affect that AIDs had on American culture and lives. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"antique<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
“Written in Sand” is an installation and a public ritual where I have an antique chest and it\u2019s filled with sand from Lake Michigan and you\u2019re invited to write the names of those you loved and lost to AIDS,” said artist Karen Finley. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Artist<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
For artist Karen Finley, “Ribbon Gate” ties together the permanence of the iron gates that could be a gateway to heaven and the ritual of adding a ribbon in commemoration of a loved one lost to AIDs. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Kaposi<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Izhar Patkin’s impressions of Kaposi sarcoma skin lesions, a symptom associated with AIDs. The painting “Unveiling of a Modern Chastity,” is an early AIDs-related painting from 1981. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"The<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
The exhibit features more than 170 works in mediums ranging from short films and sound recordings to interactive art installations, cartoons and paintings in the Alphawood gallery, a bank building remodeled for the exhibit. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"A<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Ann P. Meredith’s “AIDS-JUDGEMENT HAS COME” shows an incident of talking back to homophobia in Slidell, Louisiana, said co-curator Jonathan Katz. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"HIV<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
HIV viruses become art in the form of these pi\u00f1atas stuffed with condoms. They hang against a backdrop of artist Dr. Eric Avery’s own red blood cell magnified from a smear. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"An<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Adam Rolston notes in ink on “Trojan Boxes” that the condoms are useful for stopping the spread of AIDs, a message which the company initially refused to include. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"oversized<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Kiki Smith cast red blood cells in glass in “Red Spill,” capturing the beauty in a substance that sometimes transmits HIV. (Hannah Moulthrop\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n

Art AIDs America Chicago is the largest and most comprehensive showing of a national tour of contemporary American art influenced by AIDs. Housed in a temporary or \u201cpop-up\u201d gallery inside a remodeled bank building, the exhibit, on display through April 2, is sponsored by the Alphawood Foundation. The Chicago-based private foundation supports social justice issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we are 35 years into the AIDs crisis and you know this is the first really comprehensive exhibit to address the role AIDs played in shaping American art and its affect on American society more generally. And that says something that it has taken this long,\u201d said Anthony Hirschel, the director of Alphawood exhibitions.<\/p>\n

The exhibit found support from the foundation after every major art museum in Chicago, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art,\u00a0had rejected his proposal, said Katz.<\/p>\n

Surprising and subtle, most of the works do not appear to be about AIDs. A brightly colored hanging tapestry in the style of a traditional Japanese woodblock print from the late 19th century shows a geisha opening condom packets with her teeth. That convergence of past and present is scarcely detectable. You would not expect condom packets against a backdrop of a Japanese calligraphy, an\u00a0adorned wall and muted colors. But once you recognize the punchline, the work is especially riveting. AIDs affects the sex industry in Japan as elsewhere and condoms are needed.<\/p>\n

And there are works you may never see in other museums, Katz said referring to a series of six photos in one frame, portraits of photographer Mark Chester\u2019s lover, the gay playwright Robert Chesley. Chesley\u2019s HIV infected body marked with lesions is partially uncovered while also clothed in a spandex Superman costume with a cape. His erect penis is visible in some shots,<\/p>\n

\u201cHe valiantly uncovered his HIV infected body in an erotic pose and attempted to say no, gay male sexuality should be allowed to flourish, even if we have this virus. Infection is related to what you do, not who you are,\u201d Katz said. \u201cAnd this courageously was printed in the Bay Times in San Francisco and I cannot overstate the impact of seeing a man with Kaposi\u2019s sarcoma and an erection in the public newspaper at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The exhibit provides a history of art reacting to AIDs, beginning with the first AIDs related art that preceded any news stories about the disease.<\/p>\n