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Email PageUncle Lige's Sword
September 25, 2006- November 3, 2006
Reception: September 26, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Eric Rhein
National Museum of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History
208 W 13th StRhein's wire drawings and constructions from the decade reflect the transformation that he has experienced as a long-term survivor from a concentration on AIDS-specific issues to a broader reflection on humanity and the natural world.
With the precision of a jeweler, Rhein creates delicate constructions from wire, paper, and found objects, weaving personal stories and experiences into intricate patterns. Using nature as metaphor, Rhein evokes a transcendental universe and celebrates the resilient potential of the body and spirit. Integrating leaves, birds, animals, and human figures, he explores the delicate and powerful connections among humans, nature, and the spiritual world, and suggests the metamorphoses inherent in relationships and experiences. Sculptures, which incorporate pages from medical textbooks, suggest illuminated manuscripts in three dimensional form, and draw a correlation between the AIDS epidemic and the Black Plague of the Middle Ages.
Eric Rhein Eric Rhein Works from The Leaf Project, which Rhein conceived in 1996 to pay tribute to friends who had died of complications from AIDS, anchor the exhibition with recognition of the magnitude of loss during the height of the epidemic.
With the title Uncle Lige's Sword, Rhein dedicates this exhibition to the memory of his uncle Lige (Elijah) Clarke, a pioneer, along with his lover Jack Nichols, in the Gay Rights movement of the late 1960s through the early 70s. The sword is used as a metaphor for Clarke's courage and indomitable spirit. Rhein draws a correlation between Clarke's crusade for gay rights and his own activism by including themes about HIV and AIDS in his body of work.
Based in Manhattan, Eric Rhein has been exhibiting his sculptures and wire drawings for over 20 years in New York, elsewhere in the U.S., and in London, Paris, Munich, Stockholm, and Tokyo. Publications that have reviewed and/or reproduced his artwork include Art in America, Interview, the New York Times, Village Voice, Metrosource, POZ, the James White Review, Dutch Elle, and Vanity Fair. Rhein holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. He has received grants from the Pollock/Krasner Foundation, Adolph and Esther Gottlieb, and Art Matters.
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National Museum of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender History was last updated: 2008-10-07
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