featured gallery for January 2001

Positively Art 2001 Selection

Artists and the executors of artists' estates were invited, through an open competition, to submit up to two works of art for consideration for the Positively Art 2001 Calendar. In August 2000, Visual AIDS invited a prestigious panel of jurors, representing the arts and AIDS sectors, to select the final fourteen art works.

In addition to the entries from across the United States, this year's calendar includes works by Ugandan and South African artists. Positively Art provides a wonderful opportunity to artists with HIV/AIDS to have their art published in full color. It presents their work to the public -- in the homes and offices of supporters in the fight against AIDS -- and reaches a wide and diverse audience across the United States. Additionally, the calendar opens up other exhibition and career opportunities for the artists involved.

The Jurors:

Anthony Aziz
Artist

Barton Lidice Benes
Artist
Member, Visual AIDS Archive Project

Jeanne Bergman, PhD
Deputy Director, Technical Assistance and Program Evaluation, Bailey House

Larry M. Bruni, MD
Community Physician, Washington, DC

Stefanie Nagorka, MFA
Artist
Secretary, Visual AIDS Board of Directors

Artist Statements

Zion Kyakulaga & Grace Talitwala: The starting point of the work is life itself -- life as it presents itself and surrounds us. Here "The Destitute" carries everything he has, including his burdens.

Tim Lonergan: Every individual who has received the news that he or she is HIV positive has come to terms with issues of life expectancy. This self portrait illustrates how considerations of time permeate our perceptions

Robert Miles Parker: No matter how my hand are shaking, I hold the pen and try to follow the joy of a line. A transcendence from the pains, the fright, the everyday tearing that the disease seems to do -- I think it all is transcended by the line. It looks happy. Drawing is the secret to getting through the day.

Ronald Casanova: I believe that having HIV has given me the power of sight, to see beauty and love -- like the love a father has for his child -- even though my past was clouded with anger and pain. As an artist, I can share a message of love and the brightness and spirit of life.

Laurence Young: "Ms. Mina" is about being present and mindful of the love and joy in our lives. For those of us living with HIV/AIDS, it is very easy to get caught up in the disease and overlook the very things that mean the most to us.

Bob Corti: This photograph is from my series of portraits depicting the lives of artists living with HIV/AIDS. The endeavor has been a rewarding and cooperative experience for myself and each artist. The images capture the struggle, hope and unshakable insistence to continue their creative process despite this disease.

Becky Trotter: I have been HIV positive for nearly eighteen years, living with AIDS since 1993. From 1988 through 1993, I outlived three support groups. It is an unwritten rule in support groups that the sick are cared for by those who are not as ill. I took care of my friends -- it never occurred to me not to. I miss them.

Joyce McDonald: Compassion, love and prayer are such blessings for those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. They give us power and hope as we fight AIDS worldwide.

Nancer LeMoins: I just got so tired of seeing my friends politely discussing their anger and frustration. I did this piece to say: "Hey, stand up. Yell. Express yourself. It's a part of being alive!"

Edgard Guanipa: Painting for me is a solitary process. These figures are painted in a rash of semi-controlled marks. Working without preparatory sketches, I always try to embrace the suggestions of accidents. I pay attention to almost everything, from cartoon characters to contemporary art, and I am influenced by them all.

Peter Urban: Take comforting childhood memories -- imprinted on the soul -- and print them in ink on the skin. I live with AIDS and wanted to explore the feelings released by wrapping my body in the image of my youth.

Jack Brusca: Ruby II best represents the surreal, hard-edge, airbrush painting technique the artist perfected over his career.

Clifford Smith: Time-intensive hand-weaving gives meaning to my day-to-day schedule. With these "ropes of hope," I create abstract Mandalas that let me express myself and literally center my life. They also let me share my inner-self with others.

Judy Ann Seidman: Lesson from another struggle: couples still dance in a Johannesburg shebeen. We cannot live only knowing that so many are dead and so many dying, though that is all they expect us to know.