BCB ART : Erich Rhein : 360 Moons
From October 14 through November 19, 2017, BCB ART in Hudson, New York presents Erich Rhein’s , an exhibit of photography, sculpture, and wire drawings by the internationally acclaimed artist.
Rhein, who tested HIV-positive in 1987, has used his artwork to explore themes of love, sexuality, and identity through his ever-evolving experience of HIV. “360 Moons” honors his three decades of creating artwork that chronicles this profound experience.
This intimate exhibition of selected works evokes the physical, ethereal, and mystic as well as Rhein’s personal connection to the natural world. Resilience and vulnerability, loss and survival co-exist in these light and shadowed works, reflecting Rhein’s spiritually driven understanding of being human.
“360 Moons” features mostly nude photographic self–portraits and images of Rhein’s loves. Begun in 1992, at the height of the epidemic, when Rhein first sat for himself, naturally lit with a tripod and timer, the series spontaneously evolved into a dialogue with mortality and sexual identity. With luminous images, with titles like Veil, Portal, and Kissing Ken, the series bridges into the 1996 release of protease inhibitors, which transformed the treatment of HIV and AIDS, and which gave Rhein a renewed vitality. This is artwork-as-memoir, a living testament to Rhein’s quest to live as consciously and expansively as possible.
Rhein’s work has been exhibited in museums and galleries as far-flung as London’s Victoria and Albert Museum; the Pera Museum, Istanbul; 21er Haus Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna; American Embassies in Austria, Cameroon, Greece, and Malta; the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art; Lincoln Center; and the Museum of the City of New York. His work is included in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art’s “Visual Arts & the AIDS Epidemic Oral History Project.”
BCB ART is located at 116 Warren Street, in Hudson, New York. Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday 12:00 to 6:00 p.m., and by appointment. For further information, please contact the gallery (518) 828-4539 or log on to www.bcbart.com.