AFTER/LIFE
Thursday, February 13 – Thursday, June 11, 2020
Doug Adams Gallery, Center for the Arts & Religion, Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, California
gtu.edu/care
Rituals for dealing with death and remembrance reflect a wide spread of beliefs. “AFTER/LIFE” presents two such expressions in the contemporary arts community. The lives of artists Ed Aulerich-Sugai and Mark Mitchell, both affected by HIV/AIDS, reverberated in radical acts of love. Aulerich-Sugai succumbed to AIDS-related complications while Mitchell’s life was saved by antiretroviral drugs.
Mitchell chose to express love for his community by designing exquisite custom-made burial garments for his friends. Mitchell’s creamy, luscious, fluid garments are suspended from the gallery ceiling. Using antique sewing techniques with obsessive details, Mitchell fashioned dresses and gowns to adorn his friends in their afterlives.
Image courtesy Mark Mitchell and Doug Adams Gallery
