It Was 33 Years Ago Today

Thirty-three years ago today, on July 26, 1989, Louis Fulgoni died of complications from AIDS at the age of 53 – far too soon. The virtual retrospective, Louis Fulgoni: Memory + Legacy, presents the rich body of work he left behind. Most of it has never been exhibited until now.

“Manhattan Tantra,“ print on paper with colored ink, mid-1980s.

Soon after Louis’s death, his friends and loved ones held a memorial to celebrate his legacy. The setting was Snug Harbor, a cultural center on Staten Island, his hometown. A few of his prints were on display. Prominent among them was an etching called “Manhattan Tantra.”

Louis had photo-engraved the piece with a collage of vintage New York City skyscrapers. He worked hard on it, pulling dozens of prints and tweaking the colors for weeks. At the bottom, he inserted images of the old Staten Island Ferry terminal in lower Manhattan, with a single ferryboat in the foreground.

To me, the print has always carried a strong sense of the autobiographical. It’s easy to imagine a young Louis on the deck of that ferry, brimming with creative energy and anticipation. The compact, darkly handsome artist is making his way to what Staten Islanders still call “the city.” Once there – having finally flown the Italian-American parental coop at the age of 25 – he will broaden his outer-borough horizons. He will embrace the life he was meant to live.

The 200 artworks in Louis Fulgoni: Memory + Legacy provide ample evidence that he lived it to the fullest.

For anyone interested, high-quality reproductions of “Manhattan Tantra” and other selected works by Louis Fulgoni are now available for purchase through Fine Art America. All proceeds will help pay for maintaining and expanding the retrospective, and preserving his original artwork.