Eric Rhein
David and Gordon (David Liverett and Gordon Buchannan)
(from: LEAVES, an AIDS memorial)
David who was a physician, and Gordon who was a landscape architect, were a couple. While they were contributors to the cultural life of Manhattan, they also loved their historic stone house on their farm along the Wallkill River in the Hudson Valley. There, they kept a stable of horses and created beautiful gardens. They died of complications from AIDS in the early 1990s.
2026
Wire and paper
Framed dimensions: 11 x 14 x 2 inches
Edition: 24, 3 A/P’s
The entire edition was made by Eric Rhein, by-hand, naturally creating slight variations.
Courtesy of the artist
Available at the Artist level and above
Q&A WITH ERIC RHEIN
Q: You contribution to TAG’s benefit is from your AIDS memorial project, LEAVES—how did you choose to include part of this ongoing artwork for TAG?
A: LEAVES is now in its 30th year, and—of the hundreds of people memorialized by it, quite a few were AIDS activists. So their energy and heroism is something I strongly connect to the sprit and achievements of TAG.
Q: To bring an artwork into one’s home is, in itself, an intimate act. How do you hope your artwork will function, when in such close and ongoing contact with those who collect and display it?
A: We all know (or hopefully know) that art functions in multiple, simultaneous ways—inescapably so. This piece, as with all of the various works within the LEAVES project, is experienced aesthetically—and I certainly hope it will bring beauty and joy into collectors’ homes. But it is also a manifestation of a part of history—an era intensely affecting community, individuals, medical science, the understanding of power, and coming to know our own possibilities of self-empowerment. So to be in the proximity of artworks—like those from the LEAVES project—is to contemplate and engage in a relationship with this profound history.
Q: You call these “portraits”: in what sense do you mean that—and can you speak to how you choose which leaf form to associate with a particular individual?
A: Take a walk in the Fall, and you will see that leaves are both generic: belonging to a particular type of tree; and specific: each one having it’s own very distinctive variation. Something in the form, size, and details of each leaf usually suggests the person whose portrait I’m forming. And yes, for some portraits, the tree species does offer a strong association—strength or delicacy or exuberance…. I’ve always been drawn to the power of linear forms, and using wire to “draw in space”—to create each leaf’s silhouette—is an especially expressive medium for capturing the personality and the spirit of each person.
