SIDA

"AIDS 101 -- An Intensive," 1997
Max Greenberg
silver gelatin print, 8" x 10"

this is very intense for me....
i was invited to curate the monthly online gallery for VISUAL AIDS.
initially i was very pleased to do so, then when i began the process during march in NYC, it all came flooding back to me-
that era, (1980s) was so special in shaping my views and who i became. AIDS was a road block, and also a path change for what became my life.

now that the exhibit is done, it hits me between the eyes....
this is so very intense for me.

i am honored to present my online exhibit for VISUAL AIDS, SEPTEMBER 2010.

i would like to thank NELSON SANTOS and his beloved dog- SPARKY.

VISUAL AIDS ONLINE GALLERY- september 2010

SIDA

curator RICK CASTRO

"Fire Island Pines (Detail)," c. 1998
Peter Madero III
silver gelatin print, 8" x 10"


"Shattered," 2001
Max Greenberg
silver gelatin print, 10" x 8"



"Cocktailed," 2001
Max Greenberg
silver gelatin print, 8" x 10"


"Water Sports," 2002
Max Greenberg
silver gelatin print, 20" x 16"


"Master-Love," 1996
Ali
silver gelatin print, 16" x 20"


"Self-Portrait," 2001
John Morrison
silver gelatin print, 14" x 11"


"Bottle in My Window," 1976
Bruce Cratsley
silver gelatin print, 10" x 10"


Untitled, 2003
Max Greenberg
silver gelatin print, 24" x 20"


"Body Heat," 1990
Bruce Cratsley
silver gelatin print, 10" x 10"


"Hand of Tom Brazil," 1990
Bruce Cratsley
silver gelatin print, 10" x 10"


"Margie," 1996
John Dugdale
cyanotype, 10" x 8"


Untitled, 2003
Max Greenberg
silver gelatin print, 24" x 20"


"Flowers," 1998
Donna Haggerty
silver gelatin print, 10" x 8"


"Athletic Love," 1996
John Dugdale
cyanotype, 10" x 8"


"Self-Portrait With Blackeye," 1996
John Dugdale
cyanotype, 10" x 8"


"Man or Woman," c. 1998
Peter Madero III
photography, 8" x 10"


"Heartbread," 1992
Bruce Cratsley
silver gelatin print, 10" x 10"


"Shady Breakfast," 1996
John Dugdale
cyanotype, 10" x 8"


"Portrait of Michael Wilson," 1989
Bern Boyle
photograph, 17" x 11"

SIDA
c u r a t o r : r i c k c a s t r o

Born and raised in LA, I have lived and worked in Los Angeles my entire life. I have traveled all over the world, and even lived in NYC for a short time during the mid-80s, on 14th Street and 10th Avenue, directly across from the infamous VAULT and J's. What was once a bastion of male sex is now a designer label fashion ghetto.

Those were the days ... Life was exciting, sex was fun & kinky, the nightlife was incredible, and anything seemed possible ... I remember when the bomb hit.

Originally and cruelly called, "GAY CANCER" (GRID), the plague swept like wildfire, engulfing everyone in its path and leaving behind devastation and wailing loved ones. AIDS changed everything. I lost so many friends and lovers in a very short time span. I remember being in my early 20s, but going to more funerals than my 60-something parents. One day I expressed to my mother that I didn't know how to deal with all my friends dying. She didn't know how to respond. What was there to say? What could anyone say? It was so overwhelming. Those years seemed hopeless with nothing to look forward to. Eulogy after eulogy. For a while sex did equal death. I was forced into becoming a "goth."

Eventually my generation refused to accept the situation. We fought back. We stood up for ourselves and turned our grief into activism. Perhaps we were the second wave of the gay rights movement, with Stonewall and the Black Cat, (Silver Lake, CA, 1967 -- two years before Stonewall) being the first.

This photographic selection illustrates these feelings. From the carefree days of Studio 54, The Anvil, The NYC Bondage Club, S&M, lust and underground sex encounters, to the impact of illness, sadness, fear, death, melancholy, acceptance, some enlightenment...

I am a 52 year old gay man in America. I am HIV negative. I'm not stating this to impose superiority, but to state for the record that I'm a survivor of an era when anything was possible, but many did not make it. I am a witness to my long gone lovers and friends. I pay tribute to them by surviving as their memory and voice. During the 70s and 80s, I witnessed heaven, hell and redemption. In the 90s anger and inspiration. The 21st century will bring me peace, warm friends and a nice cuppa tea.

i dedicate this exhibit to the lovers & friends i personally lost~

JOEY NAPIERKOWSKI
GEORGE. (mommie) BYRON
JOHN ALVIN "SLAIGHT"
RICHARD "wanada" COLEMAN
MUNDO MEZA
AL BABAYAN
MARCO DE GUEITZEL
SCOTT DIRNAVICH
MIGUEL BERISTAIN
CLIFF DILLER
ROBERT WOODS
PETER CASE
FRED MADDOX
JOHN YOUNG
CHRIS CUFFS
DAVID WELLS
DANIEL ELTINGE
CHRISTOPHER RAGE
BRAD BRAVERMAN

view the exhibit- more HERE-

b i o g r a p h y
Rick Castro is a filmmaker, photographer and curator living in Los Angeles.
Rick's work explores the world of fetish and fringes of sex culture. His work has been published in artist editions, exhibitions and institutions worldwide.
In 2005, Rick opened ANTEBELLUM gallery. This groundbreaking gallery is considered the only fetish art galley in America, and perhaps the world.