Scott Treleaven at Tang Teaching Museum

August 27, 2021

Scott Treleaven included in the exhibition Look After Each Other: Intimacy and Community
at the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College

Scott Treleaven, Look After Each Other, 2013, digital print from oil stick and gouache on paper

HIV/AIDS is a medical condition that has lasting social consequences on the afflicted and their communities. Since the epidemic began in the 1980s, some folks with HIV/AIDS have reported feeling socially segregated. In response, activists have worked to build community, increase visibility and awareness, and promote solidarity and empowerment. Look After Each Other: Intimacy and Community presents work by artists and designers who demonstrate that life with the disease is bigger than someone’s medical diagnosis: it includes intimacy, care, friendship, and more. Intimacy is a political act. The intimacy and love, both romantic and platonic, highlighted in this exhibition extends from bedrooms to community centers to ephemeral objects that bring people together even when physically distanced.

All works in the exhibition are by HIV-positive artists, depict HIV-positive individuals, or were created for HIV/AIDS fundraising and awareness. They include portraits, posters, magazines, and activist-oriented art, like Scott Treleaven’s 2013 contribution to PosterVirus, an AIDS ACTION NOW! project, the work from which the exhibition title derives. Together, these works depict feelings of joy, friendship, community, and intimacy and celebrate the individuality and humanity of those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

[…]

Wheat-pasting posters, a relatively inexpensive and fast process, has long been a consciousness-raising and education method of activist artists. Since the 1980s, AIDS activists have staged poster bombings to share their messages en masse. Posters were displayed on walls and scaffolding in places the public could not easily ignore.

The tone of AIDS awareness posters has shifted since the 1980s, when visibility in spite of government disregard, was vital. Posters no longer prioritize words like “death” and “murder.” Today, while many still reflect on mortality, AIDS awareness posters contain messages of emotional support or offer information on access to medication. One may wonder: does this shift reflect progress in healthcare and prevention or a political shortcoming and acceptance of AIDS?

PosterVirus continues the practice of wheat-pasting with its series of posters curated by Jessica Whitbread and Alexander McClelland. Originally displayed around Toronto, the posters discuss new medications, passing of loved ones, and emotional support. The artists shown here, Scott Treleaven and the witch collective FASTWÜRMS, used their posters to promote support structures for people who are HIV-positive. Their work reminds us that HIV is ongoing and everyone, regardless of HIV status, deserves love and care.

To view the full online exhibition visit the Tang website

For more information about Scott Treleaven please contact the gallery:

info@coopercolegallery.com

+1.416.531.8000

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