Inside Out: Voices from Home
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, California
May 31 – July 7, 1990

The artists included in Inside Out:Voices from Home were selected for their commitment to ending the AIDS epidemic, willingness to face personal trauma with hope and support, and determination to keep AIDS-related issues in the public eye.

The Artists

Ed Aulerich-Sugai’s paintings are strongly influenced by his Asian heritage. Through images of strength and power, he articulates personal issues of living with AIDS. Aulerich-Sugai states, “The helmets I paint are visual mantras, images of ferocity and longevity. They are images I focus on to bring forth the warrior in me during the times I am afraid.”

Kathryn Clark’s interactive installations focus on the emotional and physical responses to loss. Her installation for Inside Out re-sensitizes viewers to their sense of touch and investigates the lack of touching experienced by people with AIDS. Clark’s other recent projects include Mindful Affection, shown during April 1990 at San Francisco Camerawork, and A Window on AIDS, a collaborative community project in Santa Barbara.

Jane Philomen Cleland is a photo journalist whose work powerfully documents AIDS activism in the Bay Area, as well as the demonstrations of the Women’s Caucus of ACT UP San Francisco. She is staff photographer for two leading Bay Area gay newspapers.

Peter Edlund deals with the personal, psychological trauma of AIDS and the consequential emotional distancing and displacement of sexuality. In describing his own art, Edlund writes, “Image: shirt made of the skin of a man. The inside collar reads, ‘Faggot Brand’ — gloved hands hold the ‘shirt’ by fingertips. The text reads, ‘Flayed before the crowd’ … Corresponding to the tenth Station of the Cross, Jesus is stripped before the crowd. Image: the condescension and disgust over those who are gay and have AIDS. The gloves barely hold the shirt. The gloves are like those worn by the police.”

HIV+ Women’s Movement Theatre Support Group uses movement, visualization techniques and art as therapy for women affected by AIDS. They encourage participants to express their fears and anxieties about the disease through art. For the exhibition at SFAI this support organization will display drawings and paintings that are by-products of the group process.

Rudy Lemcke, guest curator for Inside Out, works in a variety of media and has used his art to make strong statements about AIDS issues. His recent project include participation in Group Material’s AIDS Timeline at University Art Museum, Berkeley, n 1989, Silent Knights at Artists’ Television Access last December and ACT UP at Southern Exposure Gallery in San Francisco. At SFAI, Lemcke presents, Who Killed Robert Mapplethorpe? (1990), a multi-panel collage and painting installation on censorship.

The Names Project represents a grass-roots response to the AIDS crisis. Founded in San Francisco in 1987 by Cleve Jones, this organization continues to expand its quilt of thousands of hand-embellished, 3’x 6’ panels: individual tributes created by the families and friends of those who have died of AIDS. Their work remains one of the most poignant pieces of American political art. The AIDS Memorial Quilt has been displayed at Capitol Mall and the White House Elipse in Washington, DC, and at cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.For Inside/Out, The Names Project presents a 12’ x 12” panel from the quilt.

Masami Teraoka’s paintings and etchings, executed in the manner of traditional Japanese art, deal with contemporary issues. Inside/Out is the premier exhibition of Teraoka’s monumental Tale of One Thousand Condoms, measuring 82’ x 133’. Also included are six lift-ground chine colle etchings of the subject of AIDS, created in the style of traditional Japanese pillow-box illustrations. This work represents the trans-cultural impact of AIDS and reintroduces the erotic during a time of sensual denial.

Women’s Caucus of ACT UP San Francisco organizes and facilitates women’s political response to AIDS, broadening the understanding of the medical and social impact of the disease on the larger community. Their display at SFAI includes photographs of civil disobedience and demonstrations, as well as information tables. They have stated, “Women (especially sex workers) are often viewed as ‘carriers’ giving HIV to men and their babies, not as people with AIDS who need care and treatment themselves.”

Youth AIDS Art Project is a consortium of youth service agencies organized by the Youth Guidance Center Preventive Education Program; The Mid-City Consortium to Combat AIDS; and Huckelberry House, San Francisco. Through art and education, this organization works to prevent an AIDS epidemic insane Francisco’s adolescent population. At SFAI, they present selections from the art competition Spread the Word, NOT the Disease: a group of 50 AIDS education billboard proposals created by local youths in San Francisco’s Mission District. These proposals have been previously exhibited at the Mission Cultural Center.

THE TAMALPA INSTITUTE

Anna Halprin, founder of the Tamalpa Institute, is a major national figure in contemporary, experimental dance. She has also pioneered the development of dance and movement techniques to aid the physical and emotional healing of non-dancers affected by AIDS. For Inside Out, Halprin presents a videotape of her work with HIV-infected people, demonstrating her techniques of ritual, visualization, drawing, and movement.

Nikko Marott is a recent graduate of the Tamalpa Institute training program. Along with Anna Halprin, he has created movement and dance workshops and is currently a member of the Positive Motion theater group. Using techniques developed at Tamalpa, Marott continues to work privately, counseling children and other individuals. His display at SFAI includes visualization drawings and a self-portrait.

Allan Stinson, a dancer, performer, artist, writer, and instructor at the Tamalpa Institute will present drawings and paintings he created during visualization workshops. Stinson recently completed choreographing and performing a dance presentation about AIDS for the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards at San Francisco’s Hebst Theater and, with Anna Halprin, is co-authoring Circle the Earth: A Search for Living Myths and Rituals through Dance.

AIDS is not only a biological event but also as cultural phenomenon. Its forms of representation are as diverse as the communities it affects. This show offers an array of artistic responses to this crisis that reflect the many VOICES from HOME.

Rudy Lemcke 1990