With Halloween today, the EMU appears to have gotten in the spirit, given the new exhibit in the Adell McMillan Gallery. But looks can be deceiving. The skulls depicted in Corvallis-based Clint Brown’s “The Plague Drawings” aren’t in recognition of All Hallows Eve; they’re actually a political statement representing AIDS.
The 21 pieces – done with charcoal and black conté crayon, which is comparable to an oil pastel – were drawn during in the early 1990s.
“At that time, there was quite a bit of news on the radio and in newspapers about AIDS and the AIDS pandemic,” Brown explained. “If there was ever an embracive death, it was AIDS today because one of the perceived ways you’ll get HIV is through sexual activity with somebody.”
In the 14th century when the bubonic plague, also known as black death, wiped out more than one-third of Europe’s population, skeletons were often used to personify the disease.
Officials, such as clergymen and politicians, often fled rather than burying victims of the bubonic plague, for fear of getting sick themselves. Brown compared that to institutions treating AIDS as a gay male phenomenon during the early ’90s, though he said people are generally much more informed today.
“I guess I wanted to say something more like an alarm ringing, talking to people who maybe didn’t have AIDS but maybe needed to be aware of it,” Brown said.
Brown’s art was recommended to Cultural Forum Director Darrel Kau, whose colleagues thought “The Plague Drawings,” which will hang in the EMU for the remainder of the term, would be a good way to promote the AIDS Awareness events in late November.
Simone Coker, visual arts coordinator at the Cultural Forum, said the intense drawings can be seen as controversial and in your face, but she ultimately likes the message.
“It’s a great way to promote events coming up and keep people thinking about everything they get themselves into,” she said. “I could definitely see how some people can see (the art) and be taken aback, but if you take it for what it is, it’s pretty honest.”
One of Coker’s favorite pictures is “Hollow Embrace,” which depicts a skeleton grabbing a man’s buttocks from the front, as if giving him a piggyback ride.
“Conceptually, I like the drug-related ones,” she added. “It’s just an interesting way to depict it.”
In “Aiding and Abetting,” a man with a listless expression on his face stands idly while a skeleton drives a hypodermic needle into his arm.
“The Plague Drawings” was a change of pace for Brown, who said his art is typically more colorful. He chose to keep “The Plague Drawings” black and white to keep the focus entirely on the figures, which are metaphors for humanity.
“As an artist, I found it very sobering to work with this,” he said. “I saw my role somewhat as a drama director who was doing comedy and this time, was doing tragedy, thinking how I could stage my work.”
Brown is currently working on a series entitled “Looking for Love,” for which he uses colored pastels and charcoal to focus on people placing personal ads in the newspaper.
Ariana Murphy, a University sophomore majoring in interior architecture, stumbled upon the Adell McMillan Gallery and thought the large skeleton-centric drawings were related to Halloween before she read the exhibit description.
“Knowing the message behind it, I appreciate it a lot more,” she said. “It’s a different way to reach people with that message.”
Brown’s message was particularly strong in the “In Denial” triptych, a Greek word referring to works of art divided in three sections. Based on the old saying, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,” “In Denial” is centered around the notion that if ignored, AIDS will only get worse. In the drawings, a skeleton is blindfolding, muffling or covering the ears of a human.
Brown is glad to educate people with his art, and said colleges are the perfect place to do so.
“One thing I’m thankful for,” he said, “is that university galleries and non-profit galleries show that kind of work because it’s not the kind of work people will usually show in a common gallery.”
[email protected]