Louis Fulgoni was introduced to printmaking as a student in the late 1950s. He went on to create etchings and monoprints for three decades, printing works on paper that ranged from portraits and cityscapes to photoengraved collages and Tantric designs.
Self-portrait, print on paper, early 1970s. • This is Louis’s earliest extant self-portrait executed as an etching.
Portrait of Michael, print on paper, 1974. • Louis created this image of his lover and life partner Michael McKee around the time they became a couple.
“Cricket in the Grove,” print on paper, c. 1976. • Louis produced this image after one of many long weekends that he and his lover Michael McKee spent with friends at Cherry Grove on Fire Island, New York, in the 1970s.
“Le Coque Ring,” print on paper, c. 1979. • The model for this portrait was a Dutch friend who stayed with Louis and his partner Michael McKee while on business in New York with the Phillip Morris tobacco company.
Untitled, print on paper, late 1970s. • Design with elements of surrealism.
Untitled, print on paper with colored ink, early 1980s. • One of a number of prints incorporating elements of surrealism. Louis probably made this piece while studying with Brazilian-born master printmaker Roberto De Lamonica.
Portrait of Eric, print on paper, c. 1980. • One of a series of prints featuring yoga poses by Eric Hill, who often modeled for Louis in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.
Portrait of Eric, print on paper, c. 1980. • One of a series of prints featuring yoga poses by Eric Hill, who often modeled for Louis in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.
Untitled, print on paper, early 1980s. • Nudes as a study in perspective.
Portrait of Eric, print on paper, c. 1980. • One of a series of prints featuring yoga poses by Eric Hill, who often modeled for Louis in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.
Untitled, print on paper, 1980. • Portrait of a friend who modeled for Louis occasionally.
Untitled, print on paper with colored ink, c. 1980. • This memory-image was inspired by the view of a prominent billboard from the Staten Island Ferry, as it docked in Saint George on the Island's north shore.
Untitled, etching with silver foil, c. 1985. • Cityscape, Union Square West, where Louis spent several years in the 1980s working on commercial and fine art projects out of the small office/studio of the Ledwith-Fulgoni Co.
Untitled, monoprint, mid-1980s. • Cityscape at sunset from a series depicting views from the streets of Chelsea, near his apartment on West 21st Street.
Self-portrait, monoprint on paper, early 1980s. • This atypically distorted self-portrait dates from the early years of the AIDS crisis.
“Sex Kill 84,” print on paper, 1984. • One of a series of ominous subway scenes, this image was created before Louis’s HIV diagnosis but seems to reflect his concern about exposure to the virus that was spreading rapidly in New York.
Untitled, print on paper, mid-1980s. • A study in perspective at the Lexington Avenue/53rd Street subway station in Manhattan, this image carries a sense of foreboding that marked much of Louis’s work in the early years of the AIDS crisis.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
“Manhattan Tantra,” print on paper with colored ink, mid-1980s. • Photoengraved from a collage of vintage New York City skyscrapers, this print may evoke Louis’s journey from the insular Staten Island to wider horizons in the city.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint on paper, 1986-87. • One of an extensive series of monoprints with multiple variations on the visual theme of the yantra, a geometric design that serves as an aid to Tantric meditation.
Untitled, monoprint, mid-1980s. • Cityscape at sunset from a series depicting views from the streets of Chelsea, near his apartment on West 21st Street.
Untitled, monoprint, mid-1980s. • Cityscape from a series depicting views on from the streets of Chelsea, near his apartment on West 21st Street.
Untitled, monoprint, mid-1980s. • Cityscape from a series depicting views from the streets of Chelsea, near his apartment on West 21st Street.
“Sex Death,” etching on paper, mid-1980s. • One of a series of ominous subway scenes, this image was created before Louis’s HIV diagnosis but seems to reflect his concern about exposure to the virus that was spreading rapidly in New York.
Untitled, etching on paper, early 1980s. • While this image evokes an eclipse over a mesa or a castle, it is actually based on a view of the Holland Tunnel ventilation tower located on the shore of the Hudson River in lower Manhattan.
Untitled, etching on paper, early 1980s. • While most of Louis’s creative work was not overtly political, he created this piece for submission to a contest held by an anti-war organization opposing U.S. policy in Central America.
Untitled, etching on paper with colored ink, c. 1983. • This sardonic image of New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch telegraphs the artist’s view of Koch, who was corrupt and a closet case, in Louis’s estimation.
Portrait of John, print on paper, 1988. • The subject, John MacDonald, was in a relationship with Louis’s friend Tom Von Forrester. John died in in the early 2000s.
Portrait of Michael, print on paper with colored ink, c. 1980. • One of several portraits of Louis's lover and life partner, Michael McKee, made from the early 1970s to the late 1980s.
Self-portrait, print on paper, early 1980s. • An unsparing image of the artist in middle age.
Portrait of Tim, print on paper with colored ink, 1987. • Louis’s friend and business partner, Tim Ledwith, sat for this portrait in the one-room office/studio they shared on Union Square East in the 1980s.
Portrait of Mary, print on paper, c. 1981. • Louis made this sensitive portrait of his mother, Mary Fulgoni, when she was in her early seventies. Mary would live well into her nineties, surviving her only child by two decades.
Portrait of Susan, print on paper, early 1980s. • The subject, Susan Butler, an American artist and writer who has been based in the U.K. since 1980, originally met Louis through his partner Michael McKee.
Portrait of Michael T., print on paper, early 1980s. • For this companion piece to Louis’s portrait of his friend Susan Butler, her teenage son Michael Thompson wore his Puma t-shirt inside-out so the printed, flipped image would render correctly.
