Artist Eric Rhein: Art , AIDS and a Legacy of LGBT History

We welcome Eric Rhein. 

A presence in Manhattan's East Village since 1980, Rhein became a part of the neighborhood's arts community, with artists such as Greer Lankton, Luis Frangella, David Wojnarowicz, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar, and Mark Morrisroe. As the community permanently altered the city's cultural landscape, it was also profoundly devastated by HIV/AIDS. Through wire portraits, Rhein's ongoing work Leaves honors individuals he knew who died of complications from AIDS. Initially 80 portraits at its conception in 1996, Leaves has now grown to over 250 portraits—an evolving, personal memorial to the overwhelming losses due to the pandemic.

Inspired by his uncle Elijah "Lige" Clarke (an early gay rights activist who, with his partner Jack Nichols, co-founded the first national gay weekly newspaper Gay, and the Washington Mattachine Society), Rhein relates to his art as a form of activism and healing.

Rhein helped create Visual AIDS' Frank Moore Archive Project, an archive formed to support artists living with HIV/AIDS and preserve the works of those who passed away. View Rhein's page on Visual AIDS' Artist+ Registry here.