Timeline

The two hundred-plus works collected in this exhibition reflect several distinct periods in Louis Fulgoni’s life. The timeframe begins in the 1950s with paintings that he made as an art student. It ends in 1989, when illness forced him to stop making art.

Student pieces and early work (mid-1950s to 1962)

During this period, Louis was still living with his parents at home on Staten Island and commuting into Manhattan to attend the School of Visual Arts. When he was twenty-five, he moved out against the wishes of his parents, who thought he should stay with them until he got married. At that point, he was able to immerse himself in New York City’s gay cultural scene, which, like Louis, was just beginning to emerge from the more closeted 1950s.

Starting out in the city (1962-1970)

In 1970, a fire destroyed hundreds of pieces that Louis had produced in the 1960s and stored in a studio space he rented in Chelsea. Nevertheless, a number of pre-1970 pieces survive; at the time of the fire, they were either in his apartment or in the homes of friends, relatives and a few patrons. Scores of slides of his work as a graphic artist on staff at the NBC television network in the 1960s and early ’70s have also been preserved.

*Untitled (thumb and hand print), acrylic on canvas, late 1960s.*

The magnificent Seventies (1970-1980)

In the early 1970s, when the Tonight show left New York for Los Angeles, Louis was laid off from his job as a graphic artist on staff at NBC. He spent the rest of the decade as a freelancer designer and illustrator for various clients, leaving him more flexible time in which to focus on his creative work.

*Portrait of Carl Frisk, oil on canvas with silver paint and glitter, c. 1978.*

Early AIDS era, pre-HIV diagnosis (1981-1987)

In 1981, the first reports of the syndrome that would later be called AIDS appeared in The New York Times. Louis had been active for some time in New York’s gay bars and tearooms, and he grew increasingly concerned about his health. Some of his anxiety – as well as anger at government inaction in the face of the crisis – showed through in his work.

*“Sex Kill,” etching on paper with colored ink, 1984.*

*“Eleanor,” oil and silver paint with glitter on canvas, mid-1980s.*

The final act, post-diagnosis (1987-1989)

Louis contracted PCP pneumonia and was diagnosed with HIV in July 1987. He recovered and embarked on a period of intense creative activity that lasted until early 1989, when he contracted cryptosporidiosis, an AIDS-related parasitic illness that led to his death in July of that year. He completed his last painting shortly before his final hospitalization.