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As soon as you walk into the NOT OVER exhibition at La MaMa galleria, a table extends it's self to you. It bridges the step separating the two tier floor and presents a flat surface at hand level for delicate works on paper. The table, and the paper works are all from the hand of Visual AIDS artist member Rafael Sánchez who plays with the power of print to create books, tracings, and other printed matter.
On the table is an assuming take-away entitled, "Dérives, Seroconversion, Tracings from a bookstand". It is meant to be consumed: shared, debated, considered, taken. Like all the work in the NOT OVER exhibition, the take away leaves a viewer with new ways of considering HIV, art work and provokes questions.
While his work can stand alone, the take-away opens a door for possible intimacies between the viewer and the work. You can feel more. The inside page begins with a definition of, "to trace"
to trace:
trace1 (treɪs)
n., v. traced, trac•ing, n.
1. a surviving mark, sign, or evidence of the former existence, influence, or action of some agent or event; vestige.
The key to Rafael and his work is to not make assumptions. Rather you should sit with him and the work, and hear what they have to say. We encourage you to pick up a copy of the take-away and to read it, think about it, and share it.
Learn more about Rafael and his work by visiting his Visual AIDS artist page, where you can email him directly if you want to discuss his work, ideas he presents, or your reactions to his work.
