Gund Gallery

 
Kenyon College
 
Jodi Kovach talks about the AIDS Memorial Quilt and a collection of ephemera from the ACT UP movement in the Gund Gallery on April 8, 2020. Virtual Guided Tour of The AIDS Memorial Quilt at the Gund Gallery
A white frame holds a vertical photograph on a white wall. There are figures in the color photograph. One faces towards the viewer, one away. The figures wear costumes and makeup that cover their entire bodies. They have on floor-length black dresses with long sleeves and sparkly blue material over the shoulders and chest. Their faces are painted black and they hats on with black spikes and antennae. They wear shiny bracelets and necklaces. The figure facing the viewer is smiling, but all we can make is the figure's white teeth. This figure has one leg bent with arms outstretched and seems to be caught mid twirl. It gives the image a sense of liveliness in an otherwise odd and slightly ominous scene. Jef Huereque and Mundo Meza wearing their Drag Queens from Outer Space costumes, 1983
Two 12 by 12 foot quilts hang on walls that meet in a corner at the center of this photograph. The panels are colorful. The styles of the individual squares and rectangles that make up the panels don't match. The whole photograph seems a riot of color and names and dates visible all over the quilts. The AIDS Memorial Quilt
Axis Mundo: Queer Networks in Chicano L.A