Situated prominently in Halle C of the Reed Messe Wien Convention Center, this exhibition of works by Goldstein and Mendel was designed to highlight issues associated with the theme of the conference, Rights Here, Right Now. Protection of human rights, stigma-reduction, and equal access to health care and prevention resources are key foci of all work produced by MAKE ART/STOP AIDS, a project of the Art and Global Health Center at UCLA.

This art exhibition featured large-scale sculptures and posters. Works on display included:

Medicine Man (United States), by artists Daniel Goldstein and Jon Kapellas. This iconic piece, approximately 3 ft. x 8 ft., is a mobile sculpture constructed from hundreds of pill bottles in the shape of a human body, surrounded by an aureole of syringes. The piece highlights the importance of treatment adherence and the crucial need for medical intervention in order for an HIV-positive person to remain alive and healthy. It also expresses the hanging-by-a-thread nature of human existence, that we are all mortal. It is a deeply affecting piece that stays in one’s mind long after viewing it.

Medicine Mother (South Africa), by Daniel Goldstein. This piece, 3 ft. x 8 ft., is constructed of South African pill bottles—distinct from their American counterparts in that they are solid white rather than translucent orange. It features local beadwork by the Umcebo collective, highlighting the piece’s regional origins, and strengthening ties with communities in South Africa. Recognizing the emergent importance of vertical transmission, the South African Medicine Man is, in fact, a pregnant Medicine Mother. This new incarnation addresses crucially important gender issues that drive disease demographics in the developing world as well as the debilitating side effects of first-line treatment.

Invisible Man (Eastern Europe), by Daniel Goldstein. Inspired by the efforts of this year’s AIDS Conference to address the epidemic in Eastern Europe, Goldstein created a Medicine Man constructed entirely of needles, 3 ft. x 8 ft. The piece speaks to the high proportion of transmission caused by injection-drug use in Eastern Europe. Distinct from the previous two pieces, the human form in this Medicine Man is created from negative space, a suggestion of a person inside a shell of needles. Evoking images of an iron maiden, the piece is extreme, provocative, and urgent.

Through Positive Eyes, a project directed by South African photographer Gideon Mendel and David Gere, features portraits by Mendel and participatory photography and first-person texts by People Living with HIV/AIDS from Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, and Johannesburg. These stories capture the complexities of living with HIV in today’s world, where treatment is available, but where stigma and inequality continue to define daily life. In addition to short films from the project’s three locations, on display were oversized art/text posters from South Africa. The multimedia collection depicts participants’ images, stories, and voices.

The exhibition was supported by the conference organizers - the International AIDS Society, the Ford Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Columbia University, the UCLA AIDS Institute, the UCLA Program in Global Health, and the Open Society Institute for Southern Africa.

We are pleased to offer the full collection, or specific pieces therein to interested galleries and organizations. If would like to obtain these works for exhibition, please contact Executive Director David Gere (T: 310-206-1334, E: dgere@ucla.edu) or Director of Development Ariel Stevenson (T: 310-825-6938, E: arieljs@arts.ucla.edu).