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.
Part 6: A Reckoning
Moving on is the easy part. Remembering can be hard, but it’s essential. That’s what the retrospective exhibition of Louis’s work is for.
Part 5: “The AIDS Floor”
Louis’s doctor advised admitting him again. After a brief stay in NYU Medical Center’s Cooperative Care unit, he was transferred to the adjoining Tisch Hospital, where a bed had opened up on “the AIDS floor.”
Part 4: Defying Fear
It was as though, after the initial shock of his HIV diagnosis, Louis made a firm decision that illness would not define him. He seemed driven to create and got down to work almost obsessively.
Part 3: Posterity Be Damned
It’s hard to fully understand Louis’s lifelong diffidence about exhibiting his work. He sold some pieces, usually to friends and acquaintances, but never had a solo show or expressed much interest in pursuing one.
Part 2: The Staten Island Connection
Maybe the Staten Island connection was the reason Louis and I became friends so effortlessly. We even discovered that we had attended the same parochial school, albeit a generation apart.
Part 1: Art of Memory
The dreams began a few weeks after Louis Fulgoni died of complications from AIDS in July of 1989, following months of hospitalization and harrowing decline.