America’s Society opens tomorrow “José Leonilson: Empty Man”, the first U. S. solo exhibition of this key Brazilian artists from Fortaleza. Rather than a retrospective, the focus is on Leonilson’s production as a mature artist, featuring approximately fifty works from the 1980’s until the early 1990’s.
The artists died young, at the age of 36, victim of AIDS, and the exhibition highlights the prolific period in which he was fighting against the disease. After the HIV Positive diagnosis, in 1991, Leonilson began to develop intimate embroideries, a practice he continued until his death, in 1993. Leonilson lived in New York and established a close dialogue with foreign artists, especially about the global health crisis caused by AIDS.
VISUAL ART
What: Exhibition “José Leonilson: Empty Man”
Where: America’s Society (Manhattan)
When: September 27 – February 4