ED AULERICH-SUGAI

New Morning Star: Ed Aulerich-Sugai’s Julian

This page features the checklist and full details on the series Julian, New Morning Star by Ed Aulerich-Sugai. Please direct any questions to Alla Efimova at alla@thekunstworks.com.

Description
The series Julian, New Morning Star represents an important project left unpublished following the artist’s death in 1994 from AIDS-related complications.

Highlighting his experiences as part of a larger community affected by HIV/AIDS, then and now, Julian, New Morning Stars extends the conversation around the continuing impact of HIV/AIDS by addressing the diversity and resilience of artistic and cultural responses to the epidemic throughout the eighties and nineties. In 2020 and 2021, San Francisco will mount numerous exhibitions to commemorate the losses suffered to HIV/AIDS, including at the SF Arts Commission, SOMArts, the San Francisco Public Library’s Hormel Center, and the AIDS 2020 international conference in July 2020, to be held in San Francisco and Oakland, which is estimated to bring roughly 23,000 people to the Bay Area.

Aulerich-Sugai’s illustrations for a children’s book titled Julian – New Morning Star relates the history of HIV/AIDS to the experience of children with life-threatening illnesses, offering a unique lens to consider the traumatic history of AIDS as it impacted people of all ages. The key themes of the book are confronting fear and providing healing. Inspired by a drawing his nephew made during a family visit in 1991, Aulerich-Sugai returned to San Francisco with the idea to create an illustrated story about the experience of childhood cancer. The series includes sixteen panels with accompanying text, narrated by a young boy “possessed by an evil spirit.”

During his life, Aulerich-Sugai bridged many communities, as an artist, writer, and gardener; as an AIDS activist and one of the first beneficiaries of Visual AIDS; as the son of Japanese-American and Caucasian parents. The series of paintings made for Julian – New Morning Star are vibrantly painted with vivid and resonant imagery. The potential audience is large, encompassing children, families, artists working with illness, visiting HIV/AIDS researchers and activists, as well as locals and the general public.

Exhibition details
An exhibition of Julian, New Morning Star could include: sixteen original paintings by Aulerich-Sugai, an original manuscript with the artist’s typed notes. Accompanying text and photographs tell the story of the artist. The paintings are each 44 x 35 inches and the majority are unframed. Alla Efimova, PhD, is the author of interpretive content. We estimate a minimum of 80 linear feet.

Possible public programs
Robert Glück, Writer, San Francisco
Daniel Ostrow, Clinical Social Worker and Aulerich’s Sugai’s partner, San Francisco
Alla Efimova, PhD, Curator, Berkeley 
Margaret Tedesco, Curator, San Francisco

Estimated exhibition costs
Printing (brochure/booklet): $600
Printing (wall text and labels): $300
Honoraria (speaker fees): $1000
Reception: $200
Documentation: $150

Insurance costs
$80,000 ($5,000 per painting)

Checklist