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Peter Hujar

Ethyl Eichelberger as Auntie Belle Emme, 1979

Description

Maker

  • Peter Hujar, 1934-1987, American

Title

Ethyl Eichelberger as Auntie Belle Emme

Year

1979

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • gelatin silver

Supports

  • paper

Dimensions

50.2 x 40.3 cm (19 11/16 x 15 7/8 inches) (sheet)

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Photographs

Credit

Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2009.14

About

Here American drag performer, dramatist, and actor Ethyl Eichelberger (1945–1990) portrays Auntie Belle Emme, a play on the word antebellum. Looking woefully into a small casket, Auntie Belle wears a hoop skirt and layered sleeves, fully embodying the fictional Civil War–era character.

Eichelberger began his acting career in Providence’s Trinity Repertory Company. He wrote plays that cast him in both male and female roles, but he was most celebrated for his explorations into the complex lives of influential women throughout history. Photographer Peter Hujar—who, like Eichelberger, was a renowned figure in the downtown New York avant-garde of the 1970s and ’80s—is known for his sensitive depictions of LGBTQIA community.

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Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Facing Artists

February 27 - July 31, 2009

Peter Hujar typically used a square-format camera and placed his subjects in the center of the image against a neutral backdrop, as in the image seen here. But he is best known for his choice of sitters—downtown New York’s avant-garde artists—rather than his style. Ethyl Eichenberger, born James Roy Eichelberger (American, 1945–1990), drag performer, playwright, and actor, was the lead actor at the Trinity Repertory Company here in Providence in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After returning to New York, where he had studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he changed his name to Ethyl and became an influential figure in experimental theater, performing solo works based on lives of great women in history. Here he plays a fictional figure from the pre–Civil War era, with costume and studio set-up reminiscent of the photography from that period.

Hujar has gained international attention only in recent years, but he was highly influential for a younger generation of artists including Robert Mapplethorpe and Nan Goldin, whose works are on view on the wall to your left.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in Copyright. This object is Ethyl Eichelberger as Auntie Belle Emme with the accession number of 2009.14. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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