Tom Bianchi: Fire Island Artist Residency Lecture Series

Visual AIDS was proud to partner with the Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) for an artist talk by photographer Tom Bianchi, who presented his work in conversation with Visual AIDS Programs Director Alex Fialho. The Visual AIDS / FIAR lecture series brings Visual AIDS Artist+ Members who are leading figures in contemporary art to share their experience with the Fire Island community and the Fire Island residency artists at the Cherry Grove Community House through a partnership with the Arts Project of Cherry Grove.

Tom Bianchi bio: I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, growing up in the America of the 1950s when it was not imaginable for a boy like me to be an artist. I followed an established common sense career path, graduating from Northwestern University School of Law in 1970. I became a corporate attorney – eventually landing in New York with Columbia Pictures. New York’s art community seduced me, first as a collector – later as a weekend maker of paintings and drawings. That work came to the attention of Betty Parsons and Carol Dreyfuss and they offered me my first one-man painting show in 1980.

Betty Parsons is a legend in the art world, having introduced abstract modern art through masters such as Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko, Clifford Still, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. The invitation to a show with Betty and Carol convinced me to tear up my law degree, paste it into a painting and become an artist full time.

In 1984, I was given my first solo museum exhibition at the Spoleto Festival. After ten years as a painter / sculptor with an extensive exhibition history, I found myself in the midst of the AIDS crisis. My partner died in 1988 and I wondered why I’d become an artist. Was it to make beautiful things for wealthy corporate collections? I turned my focus to a book of photographs – OUT OF THE STUDIO – dedicated to the memory of my lover. That book broke new ground in that it was candidly about gay men, naked and affectionally connected to one another. The success of that book set me on the course to where I am now – twenty-one books later.

The Fire Island Artist Residency is an organization founded in 2011 which brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identifying emerging artists to Fire Island, a place long-steeped in LGBTQ history, to create, commune, and contribute to the location's rich artistic history. FIAR provides free live/work space to five selected artist residents who work, research, relax, and immerse themselves in the Fire Island community, during which time they are visited by a handful of renowned visiting artists, curators, and art professionals who commune with residents through intimate visits, dinners, and discussions, providing support and feedback. The greater Fire Island community, and visitors from New York and Long Island, are invited to attend free public lectures by these esteemed guests of FIAR throughout the duration of the program. In this way, FIAR hopes to bring both new creative perspectives and prestigious art professionals together in this extraordinary location to foster the creation—and preservation—of queer art-making in contemporary art.