Tim Barton
Life Storm
Mixed media (construction, found objects), 24 x 18 x 4", 2019
"I was diagnosed with HIV 2-21-2019. As a mixed media artist I had to let things set for a while to fully understand what that diagnosis felt like to me, the day the doctor on the phone said I was HIV+. In response I created Life Storm. I somehow felt betrayed and like the universe had turned its back on me."

— Tim Barton
 
 
 

La Buruquena

Moses

Acrylic paint, acrylic Montana spray, and collage on cotton canvas, 48 x 38", 2016

"[T]o present day, Puerto Rico maintains its colonial status under the United States. As with other invaders that brought diseases, the U.S. has had a large hand in bringing AIDS/HIV to the island of Puerto Rico."

— La Buruquena
 
 
 

Corliss Cavalieri

Death and Magic

Oil on canvas, 85 x 74", 1988

"[O]fferings of food...were placed with the deceased: in this case Pineapples (a symbol of hospitality and Oranges for my friend Brian (he loved the smell, taste, and color of that citrus). I had known Brian since high school and unfortunately he never lived long enough for the 'cocktail' to be available and sustain him."

— Corliss Cavalieri
 
 
 

Michael P. Shanoski (1958-2001)

Untitled Polaroid

Polaroid photograph, 3 x 3", circa 1987

Courtesy of Kathleen Mulligan

"The Polaroid image featured here is part of a series of self portraits Michael took in the early '90s. For me, they typify the mystery and drama of my brother’s creativity. I believe this image conveys the feeling of being shrouded in fear, like so many other men of that era — the feeling of impending doom that AIDS would eventually end their lives."

— Carolyn Coal, sister of Michael Shanoski
 
 

Joe Bowman (1945-2017)

Outtake for "White Heat" circuit party advertisement

Silver gelatin print on paper, 10 x 8", 1993

"[Joe] was easily distracted and fell into periods of addiction that led to his abandonment by many of his best and most lucrative commercial contracts. That loss, while devastating, was also what freed him of the shackles of commercial respectability, allowing him to become a photographer and chronicler of his own LGBTQ+ life and times."

— Bill Whiting, friend and executor of Joe Bowman's estate
 
 
 
 
 
 

William Way LGBT Community Center

1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
P: 215-732-2220