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[[image - cartoon encaptioned:  What happened to my lungs?  I do not know.  This is it, they turn into.  Yes they turn into a book page [[heart symbol]] & page & page & page.page]]

VITTORIO SCARPATI
1955-1989
Died in New York City

What Happened to My Lungs?
ink on paper 6 x 8 inches
Courtesy: 56 Bleeker Gallery

Vittorio Scarpati made these drawings while living in the hospital for months hooked up to machines to keep breathing after his lungs had collapsed from AIDS-related pneumonia.  Drawing became his outlet and his weapon for survival--a way to help bear terrible pain and to sustain his sense of humor.  These drawings are a visual diary of his days living in suspension, full of the mundane realities of illness and hospitalization and his memories, fantasies, and dreams.  He has left behind an indelible record of his fight for life and given us a gift of wit and wisdom.
--Nan Goldin

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[[image - photograph 2 side tables with memorabilia]]

JO SHANE
Born 1955
Lives in New York City

Permeable Membranes 1989
mixed media assemblage 45 x 47 x 17 inches

Memorials to Max diCorcia and Dennis Lopez;  Permeable Membranes and Birdcage for Max (not pictured) also explore how memorialization transposed into nostalgia can create an imprisoning void of non-interaction.  Nostalgia, as such, has been used to deny every human beings' vulnerability to HIV, ARC, AIDS and AIDS engendered loss.  This work is shown in hopes of provoking an involvement with living people who are immuno-deficient and promoting participation in working towards a solution.  None of us is exempt.

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