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Raised in the Hudson Valley, with childhood summers in Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains, Eric Rhein formed a deep affinity with nature—an ongoing inspiration for his work. Rhein’s art—which includes wire drawings, sculpture, mixed media collage, and photography—features a wide iconography shaped by the natural environment: hummingbirds, leaves, deer, and other organic forms. Frequently employing salvaged materials as varied as wire, pages from vintage scientific journals, hardware and jewelry, Rhein imbues these cast-off materials with new life, mirroring his own path as experienced through his evolving relationship with HIV.
A presence in the East Village arts community since 1980 (with fellow artists Greer Lankton, Huck Snyder, Luis Frangella, David Wojnarowicz, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Hujar, Hugh Steers, and Mark Morrisroe—most of whom are in the Visual AIDS Archive), Rhein experienced not only the community’s creative explosion, and also its profound devastation due to the AIDS epidemic.
Diagnosed HIV positive in 1987, Rhein felt compelled to address universal aspects of the human condition.
His series of photographic and sculptural self-portraits, starting in 1991, trace the fluctuations, vulnerability, and resilience of body and spirit. Primarily nudes, these images softly convey a range of experiences and emotions. There is sensuality within in these works—which embrace acceptance, loss, and remembrance—and survival and faith. Portraits of intimate friends, commenced in the 1990’s, compliment this series.
Rhein’s rough and tender marker and mixed-media Hospital Drawings (made during his 1994 “artist-in-residency” at St. Vincent’s Hospital)—as with the whole body of his work—examine the permeable spaces between life and death, the tangible and the ephemeral, and the known and ethereal. Reflecting his metaphysical and spiritual approach to healing, Rhein’s art depicts our collective vulnerability, resilience, and possibilities for transcendence.
In 1996, the year protease inhibitors restored Rhein’s physical vitality, he began his ongoingseries, Leaves, which honors the lives of men and women he knew who died of complications from AIDS. Walking the grounds of the MacDowell artists’ colony, Rhein felt the presence of friends, lovers, and others who had touched his life. Returning to his studio, he rendered the leaf forms in delicate wire, each one expressive of an individual’s spirit. Leaves has now grown to over 250 tributes, existing as both a personal memorial and a reminder of the ongoing toll of the epidemic. Leaves continues to evolve and be shown internationally. Art historian and AIDS activist Robert Atkins wrote, “Art has always played a role in coming to terms with collective tragedy, and the role of an artist has frequently been to bear witness. Surely an art of memory like Eric Rhein’s can help harmonize our views by suggesting that honoring the past is one way to live more fully in the present.”
Following in the footsteps of 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. In 1994, David Hirsch invited Rhein to a gathering in artist Frank Moore’s loft, where they founded Visual AIDS’ Frank Moore Archive Project, providing support to artists living with HIV/AIDS and protecting the legacies of those who passed.
Rhein received his BFA and MFA degrees through full scholarships at the School of Visual Arts, NY. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as: the Victoria and Albert Museum; The New Art Gallery, Walsall, England; the Pera Museum, Istanbul; 21er Haus Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna; American Embassies in Austria, Cameroon, Greece, and Malta; the Addison Gallery of American Art; the Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ; the Islip Art Museum, NY; the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art; Lincoln Center; Artists Space; Art in General; Sculpture Center; White Columns; The Bronx Museum of the Arts; the Museum of the City of New York; and the Smithsonian
Reviews of Rhein’s work have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, ArtNews, and Art In America. Rhein has received multiple grants and fellowships, including: the Pollock/Krasner Foundation, Art Matters, Edward Albee’s “The Barn,” and the MacDowell Colony.
He is included in the Smithsonian Archives of American Art's "Visual Arts & the AIDS Epidemic Oral History Project”, in which participants are interviewed, in-depth, creating a comprehensive view of their life and work within the context of AIDS.
In 2017 Eric Rhein received Visual AIDS’Vanguard Award for his contributions to AIDS awareness through artwork and activism. This has special meaning for him: Visual AIDS has been a vital part of his life since the mid-90’s.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions
2015
Eric Rhein
Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY
Curator: Kris Nuzzi
2014
The Course of My Life
Curator: Heather Cammarata-Seal, Johnson & Johnson World Headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ
Natural World
39th Street Gallery, Gateway Arts Center, Brentwood, MD
2011
Transmutation
BoxoProjects, New York, NY
2010
Communion
BCB Art, Hudson, NY
2006
The Pencil of Nature
BCB Art, Hudson, NY
Journey Among Warriors
The Leslie/Lohman Gallery, New York, NY
Uncle Lige’s Sword
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, New York, NY
2005
Leaves
Frieda and Roy L. Fuhrman Gallery, Walter Read Theater, Lincoln Center, New York, NY
2004
Anthropomorphosis
Bob Howard, Fire Island Pines, NY
2000
A Gathering
The Schoolhouse Center, Provincetown, MA
1999
Leaves
David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
Interior Structure
Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR
1998
The Course of My Life
Richard Anderson Fine Arts, New York, NY
Human Biology
New York Public Library-Donnell Library Center, New York, NY
1997
Room Ten-36
Art in General, New York, NY
Eye on a Sparrow
Froelick Adelhart, Portland, OR
In the Company of Shadows
Tricia Collins/Grand Salon, New York, NY
1992
Still -an installation
AIDS Forum, Sculpture Center, New York, NY
1986
26 Objects -an installation
Stockholm Mobile Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Group Exhibitions
2015
Andras Borocz, Nancy Grossman, Eric Rhein
Pavel Zoubok Gallery, New York, NY
2014
Ephemera As Evidence
Curators: Joshua Lubin-Levy & Ricardo Montez, La MaMa Galleria, New York, NY
InsideOUT
Fulton Street Gallery, Troy, NY
Round Hole, Square Peg
Artist’s Corner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013
Nocturnal
BCB Art, Hudson, NY
Tweet
Curator: Jil Weinstock, The Children’s Museum of the Arts, New York, NY
No Man is an Island: The Masculine Landscape in the 21st Century
Curator: Sarah Schmerler, Print Center of New Jersey, Branchburg, NJ
Recent Acquisitions
The Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, New York NY
Round Hole, Square Peg
Smart Close Gallery, 154 Stanton Street, New York, NY
Not Over:25 Years of Visual AIDS
Curators: Kris Nuzzi and Sur Rodney (Sur), La MaMa Galleria, New York, NY
Art Meets Art: Perspectives On And Beyond Olana
Curator: Richard Roth, Hudson Opera House and Olana, Hudson, NY
Secrets, Loss, Memory, And Courage
Addison Gallery of American Art,Philips Academy, Andover, MA
2012
This Land
BCB Art, Hudson, NY
The Sexuality Spectrum
Curator: Laura Kruger, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute Of Religion Museum
New York, NY
Abstract Realities
Curator: Hal Bromm, Hal Bromm , New York, NY
Pegasus
Christina Grajales Gallery, New York, NY
Abstraction: What is Real
Edelman Arts, New York, NY
Figured
Curator: Kris Nuzzi, BRIC Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
St, Sebastian: 1530-2011
Curtators: Asher Edelman and Ashley Dillman, Edelman Arts,
New York, NY
2011
Ossessione Verde
Curator: Peter Weiermair, The Faveri Gallery Of Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy
Apocryphal, Traditional, et al
Curators: Shannon Morris and Jon Coffelt, GCSU Museum, Milledgeville, GA
In Bloom
Curator: Karen Shaw, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY
Naked in New Hope
Curators: Paul Murphy and Ricky Godinez, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA
2010
Local Self Portraits
Curator: Richard Roth, Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY
2009
Octet
Curators: Suzanne Anker and Peter Hristoff, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
Arbor Day-A Celebration in Art
Curator: Robert Yoner, The National Arts Club, New York, NY
2008
Timeless: The Art of Drawing
Curator: Ann Aptaker, Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ
ART in Embassies Program
Curator: Imtiaz Hafiz, Ambassadorial residence, Yaounde, Cameron
The Great Gay Photo Show
Curator: Charles Leslie, The Leslie/Lohman Gallery, New York, NY
Wired
Curator: Walter O’Neill, Ernest Rubenstein Gallery, The Educational Alliance, New York, NY
2007
Naked in New Hope
Curators: Paul Murphy and Ricky Godinez, New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery, New Hope, PA
2006
Animal House
Curator: Karen Shaw, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY
Between Ten
Curator: Visual AIDS, Visual Works of a Positive Mind, XVI International AIDS Conference,
Toronto Canada
Bestiary
Froelick Gallery, Portland OR
2005
Flower Power
Curator: Buster Seccia, Barbara Ann Levy Gallery, Fire Island Cherry Grove, NY
Vintage East Village
Curator: Rick Prol, Hal Bromm, New York, NY
2004
Hot New Work
Curator: Buster Seccia, Barbara Ann Levy Gallery, Fire Island Cherry Grove, NY
Hidden Histories
Curator: Michael Petry,The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, London
2003
Share Your Vision
Artists Space, New York, NY
Weather Report
Curator: Craig Bunting, Gallery for the Arts, Mount Sterling, KY
Jewish Community Center, Louisville KY
1999
Millennium Messages
Curator: Barbara Coller, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
Small Works
Ledbetter Lusk Gallery, Mephis, TN
Radiant Children: Art of the East Village - 1980's
Curators: Jonathan Weinberg & Joel Handorff, Lamia Ink!, New York, NY
Four Artists
Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University, New Haven, CN
Plant Forms
Froelick Adelhart, Portland, OR
1998
Paper
Froelick Adelhart, Portland, OR
Male
Curator: Vince Aletti, Wessel & O’Connor Gallery, New York, NY
1997
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Curator: Cassandra Langer, Ph.D., White Columns, New York, NY
Form and Function of Drawing
Curator: Peter Weiermair, Art Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Conversion
Tricia Collins/Grand Salon, New York, NY
A Living Testament of the Blood Fairies
organized by Geoff Hendricks, Frank Moore, and Sur Rodney (Sur)
of the Archive Project/Visual AIDS
Printed Matter, New York, NY
1996
Me, Myself, and I
ArtGroup for Lesbian and Gay Artists
La Mama La Galleria, New York, NY
Arts’ Communities: AIDS Communities: realizing The Archive Project
Boston Center the Arts, Boston, MA
1995
The First 10
The Archive Project, PS 122 Gallery, New York, NY
Phallic Symbols: Phallic Images in Contemporary Art
Curator: Hal Bromm
24 Hours for Life Gallery, New York, NY
1994
Stonewall
Curator: Bill Arning
White Columns, New York, NY
The Underwear Show
La Mama La Galleria, New York, NY
1991
Personal Adornment
Textile Arts Center, Chicago, IL
1990
Monumental Municipalities
The Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY
1989
Selections from the Artist’s File
Curator: Cornelia Butler
Artists Space, New York, NY
1988
The Small Works Show
Curator: Lisa Philips
BACA Downtown, Brooklyn, NY
1987
Fashion and Surrealism
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England,
Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Friends from the Heart -an installation
Spiral Building, Tokyo, Japan
1985
Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Evansville, IN
1981
Adornment
Ibu Gallery, Paris, France
CORPORATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Addison Gallery of American Art,Philips Academy, Andover, MA
Leslie Lohman Gay Art Foundation, New York, NY
North Dakota Museum of Art – Barton Lidice Benes Collection, Grand Forks, ND
Porter, Orlin Inc. New York, NY
Portland Art Museum – Gilkey Center for the Graphic Arts, Portland, OR
The MacDowell Colony
The American Embassy in Malta
The West Collection at SEI, Oaks, PA
GRANTS
1998 Pollock-Krasner Foundation
1998 Peter S. Reed Foundation
1996 Art Matters
1995 John Giorno Poetry Systems
1994 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb
1993 Art Matters
1990 Pollock-Krasner Foundation
RESIDENCIES
1999 The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire
1996 The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire
1994 The Barn, Edward Albee Foundation, Montauk, Long Island, NY
EDUCATION
2000
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
MFA Full Scholarship
1984
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
BFA Painting and Sculpture
Full Scholarship
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Periodicals
Akesson, Bengt. Artist Profile: Clic Magazine -Sweden, December 1986
Atkins, Robert.Essay: "How to Make Art in an Epidemic”, POZ, April 1999
Atkins, Robert. Review: Village Voice, June 8, 1994
Brantley, Ben. Artist Profile: Vanity Fair, November 1989
Brass Perry Review: “Eric Rhein: AIDS and the Hummingbirds Warrior” Huffington Post,
February 15, 2015
Bunting, Craig Essay: “Weather Report”, Arts Across Kentucky, Spring 2003
Cotter, Holland.Essay: "Art and AIDS: The Stuff Life is Made Of”, Art in America,
April 1997
Cotter, Holland.Review: New York Times, January 17, 1997
Cotter, Holland. Review: New York Times, April 21, 1995
Barbara A. MacAdam Review: “Words of a Feather”, Art News, January 2014
Dijknmans, Marie-Louise.Artist Profile: Dutch Elle Magazine, March 1993
Editor, New York Times Letter To The Editor: “When Plagues End”, New York Times,
Section 6, December 1996
Fitzpatrick, Laurie. Artist Profile: A&U Magazine, issue #27, November 1996
Hedquist, Hedvig.Review: Svenska Dagbladet -Sweden, October 1986
Hirsch, David. Review: New York Native, December 28, 1992
Jackson, Erik. Interview: "Leaves of Absence”, Time Out New York, issue #140,
May 28., 998
James McDonald Artists Profile: “Eric Rhein: The Course of My Life” Out Magazine,
December 1, 2014
Johnson, Ken. Review: New York Times, November 20, 1998
Kahlke, Dunbar, Cheryl Artist Profile: Fire Island Tide, August 3, 2007
Koide, Yukiko. Artist Profile: Figaro, no. 48, -Japan, February 1994
Editor, New York Times Letter To The Editor: “When Plagues End”, New York Times,
Section 6, December 1996
Liu, Robert. Artist Profile: Ornament Magazine, Fall 1989
McQuaid, Cate Review: “Addison show frames 20th century’s gay male life”, Boston Globe
June 11, 2013
Merla, Partric Artist Portfolio: “Excerpt”, The James White Review, Vol. 16 , No. 1, Winter 1999
Oswald Alina Review: “Ephemera as Evidence” A&U Magazine, issue #237, July 2014
Nichols, Jack Artist Profile: “Kentucky Artist Gains National Recognition” The Letter, October 1998
Renee, Thomas, Natasha Artist Profile: “New York Artist Brings Work and Words to Ames”
The Tribune, Ames Iowa, Volume 4, No.48, November 29, 1997
Sean Black Artist Profile, “Possibilities of Transcendence” A&U Magazine, December 1, 2014
Sischy, Ingrid.Portfolio: "Eyes of March”, Interview Magazine, March 1990
Slesin, Suzanne. Artist Profile: New York Times, July 25, 1991
Snellen, Wayne Recent Donations & Acquisitions, The Archive: The Journal of the Leslie/Lohman
Gay Art Foundation, # 38, Spring 2011
Snellen, Wayne Notes on the Leslie-Lohman Collection: The Archive: The Journal of the Leslie/Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, #47, Autumn 2013
Sokolowski, Tom. Review: Art + Text no. 49, Australia, 1994
Strong, Lester Artist Profile: A&U Magazine, December 2006
Von Uchtrup, Michael Artist Profile: “The Fine Art Of Remembering”
The Archive: The Journal of the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation, #21, Autumn 2006
Walsh, Richard Artist Profile: Metrosource, February/March, 2006
Wilson, Beth Artist Profile: “The Pencil Of Nature”, Chronogram, October, 2006
Wolford, Lisa. Artist Profile: Interview Magazine, October 1989
Rakan Magazine Artist Profile: (Preimere Issue) -Japan, 1986
Books
Lewin, Susan Grant. One of a Kind: American Art Jewelry Today, Abrams Publishers, 1994
Lubin-Levy & Matta Carlos Petite Mort: Recollections of a Queer Public
Forever & Today, Inc., 2011
Petry, Michael Nature Morte: Contemporary artists reinvigorating the Still-Life
Thames & Hudson, 2013
Petry, Michael. Hidden Histories, Art Media Press, 2004
Martin, Richard. Fashion and Surrealism, Rizzoli Publisher, 1987
Slesin, Suzanne. New York Style, Clarkson Potter Publishers, 1992
Visual AIDS Not Over: 25 Years OF Visual AIDS
Visual AIDS, 2013
Weiermair, Peter Treasures of Gay Art: From the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation
All Saints Press, 2008
Catalogues
Ephemera As Evidence Visual AIDS publication, in conjunction with exhibition at La Ma Ma Galleria, New York, NY, 2014
Not Over: 25 Years of Visual AIDS Visual AIDS publication, in conjunction with exhibition at La Ma Ma Galleria, New York, NY, 2013
Remembering Paul Monette Addison Gallery of American Art, 2013
Figured, BRIC Rotunda Gallery, 2012
Ossessione Verde, Vanillaedizioni, for exhibition Ossessione Verde
The Faveri Gallery Of Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy, 2011
Octet: Selected Works from School of the Visual Arts, New York
Pera Museum 36, Istanbul, 2009
Timeless: The Art Of Drawing Morris Museum, 2008
Untied States Embassy Yaounde, Cameroon Art in Embassies Exhibition, 2006
Share Your Vision Visual AIDS publication, in conjunction with exhibition at Artists Space, 2003
Popism / Stars and Stripes Forever / The Estate Project
Yale University Art Gallery and Jonathon Edwards College, 1999
Give Life to Art: The First Step Gallery (=) Positive and Visual AIDS, 1996
The First 10: The Archive Project Visual AIDS, 1995
Selections from the Artists File Artist Space, 1989