c u r at or’s s t at e m e n t
a r t i s t ’ s s tat e m e n t
Brian and I went to Tyler School of Art from 1980-84.
Having lived through the slow and painful process of watching loved ones die
As in most colleges, good friends were made and lifetime relationships
p re m at u re l y, I have pursued existential issues around death and decay,
blossomed.
memory, loss and history and their relation to photography and representation
But in the case of our college days, the profundity of life got in the way of
ever since. Reading Roland Barthes' Camera Lucida was a transformative expe-
parties when everyone started getting sick: Marsha Marritz, Brian’s girlfriend
rience for me in that it really solidified the peculiar relationship between death
first of Hodgkin’s Disease, and then Guy Kitchen, his best friend of AIDS.
and photography. The work presented here fulfills my need to keep exploring
Marsha was 25 and Guy was 38 when they passed.
this rich subject.
Biography aside, these photographs move me. I see them as profound and unfiltered expressions of sadness. It is rare that someone bears themselves so clearly.
Lisa Yukasavage
Brian Moss