Jean-Michel Othoniel:
I Believe in Fairies
WORLD AIDS DAY, DECEMBER 1
Marking the 5th anniversary of its public dedication, The New York City AIDS Memorial is pleased to announce I BELIEVE IN FAIRIES - an installation of 250 engraved votive candles designed by the internationally renowned French sculptor, Jean-Michel Othoniel. Created by the artist to remember those taken by AIDS, the glass candle holders will be lit and arranged at the AIDS Memorial in New York City on World AIDS Day, December 1, in celebration of their lives. These objects are intended as a gift to the community attending the events and vigil and will be free for attendees to take home with them.
Othoniel, like many of the generation who came of age at the peak of the AIDS epidemic, was deeply impacted by the trauma following the immeasurable loss and devastation occurring during this time – both personally and on a global scale. Deconstructing the feelings of associating desire with death, of bodies becoming sick and ultimately disappearing, Othoniel uses his artistic practice to transform painful concepts and memories into beautiful and elegant sculptures, exemplifying what he has called a “hyper-optimism” in the face of a darkening world.
Engraved with the phrase “I BELIEVE IN FAIRIES” the 250 votive candle holders have been fabricated in red glass by the artisans at Brooklyn Glass, and are intended as a tribute to those lost by serving as a gift to the community attending the vigil at the New York City AIDS Memorial. Othoniel often cites his mentor and friend, the artist Félix González-Torres who died of AIDS-related illness in 1996, as a touch-point for his interest in materiality and iteration, and for helping him to “dissolve long-hallowed boundaries between Conceptualism and emotion.”
Through balancing seemingly oppositional forces – sadness, rage, and fear against optimism, strength, and courage – Othoniel exemplifies the complexities surrounding the memorialization of an epidemic which has not yet ended, the reckoning with a difficult history, and our desire to still create a hopeful and beautiful future.
Additionally, in partnership with Avant Arte we will be releasing a limited-edition sculptural work by Jean-Michel Othoniel on World AIDS Day, with proceeds benefiting the New York City AIDS Memorial. More information on the edition coming soon.