New York’s AIDS Memorial Park has a new sculpture. Unveiled at the start of Pride Month on June 9, “Craig’s closet” (2023) by the artist Jim Hodges sits on the central lawn of the memorial park at St. Vincent’s Triangle in Greenwich Village, where it will remain on view until May 2024.
A granite and painted bronze replica of a bedroom closet frozen in time, “Craig’s closet” is an intimate indoor space brought outdoors that explores the intangible experiences and memories contained in material objects left behind: shirts and jackets on hangers; filled drawers and filled shelves; stacks of intact books and files; bags and boxes containing unknown treasures. Its solemn black color contrasts sharply with the stark white of the park’s triangular monument and the facade of the Greenwich Village Lenox Hospital that peeks out through the green foliage of the trees in the background. From the front, Hodges’ sculpture depicts a crowded black-covered closet full of minute details that each tell a story; from the rear, these features are condensed into a monochromatic wall whose only details are sunlight and shadows bouncing off its watery surface.
The sculpture is a copy of the closet belonging to New York musician Craig Ducote, with whom Hodges lived until his death in 2016. But although the details of the work and the specific name allude to Hodges’ personal experiences, the sculpture focuses on a collective understanding of loss that extends beyond its origins.
“Inspiration for a piece of artwork from Craig’s closet site occurred shortly after Craig’s death in 2016, but it took a few years to officially begin the process of making it,” Hodges said. Hyperallergic by email.
Hodges explained that he first compiled an archive of photos of the original closet in May 2017, and a year later enlisted the sculpting studio at Portland Form 3D Foundry to take three-dimensional scans. of the actual closet and create a digital rendering of the sculpture. The next three years were spent exploring potential materials for its construction and he finally opted for black granite from Italy’s Garfangana Innovazione. Hodges said he opted for bronze castings “for delicate details that could not be done in cut stone” which were made at the Walla Walla Foundry in Washington.
On a recent Thursday afternoon, hurried passers-by and park visitors seemed to ignore the striking dark sculpture set in the grassy glade. Sitting on the benches lining the perimeter of the park and sprawled out on the stone steps leading down to the lawn, many seemed oblivious that afternoon to the new centerpiece of the park as they continued to scroll through their smartphones or converse with typically New York fashionable friends. But Sumit Kaur, who stumbled upon the memorial while exploring midtown Manhattan, immediately found herself drawn to the dark closet when she entered the park from its northeast corner.
“The textures were beautifully executed: the shirts, the jackets, the pleats in the bag – they’re really beautiful,” Kaur said. Hyperallergic.
Formerly chief urban architect for the Indian city of Chandigarh, Kaur said she has always been fascinated by the use of public spaces. She was particularly interested in the specific items on display in “Craig’s closet”, such as what appears to be a rolled up yoga mat at the base of the sculpture and the contents of the mysterious bag on the top shelf of the closet.
“Art is meant to be interpreted in your own way,” Kaur said. “You may not necessarily follow the lead of the artist. I think everyone will see this from their own perspective based on their experiences and background, and see things differently.
NYC AIDS Memorial Park is located in the heart of Greenwich Village, a neighborhood whose gay male residents were disproportionately affected by the disease in the late 20th century. The park site is close to the former location of St. Vincent Hospital, a frontline center during the HIV/AIDS crisis that has also been the site of numerous protests by LGBTQ+ activists. Before the nine-building hospital complex was sold and converted to residential accommodation in 2011, the health center was once home to the East Coast’s first and largest AIDS ward – historically referred to as “ground zero” during the ‘epidemic. In addition to Saint-Vincent, many other historical sites are within a few blocks of the memorial, including the LGBT Community Center, the original headquarters of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), and the former office of the Community Physician Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, who helped lead efforts for the treatment of AIDS and later co-founded the AIDS Medical Foundation. The memorial park was built over the site of the hospital’s now-demolished materials handling center, where medical supplies and the bodies of deceased patients were transported through underground tunnels.
Located at the trisection of Seventh Avenue, Greenwich Avenue and West 12th Street, the triangular park opened to the public in December 2016 on World AIDS Day to commemorate those who have lost their lives to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to honor the activists and healthcare workers who continue to fight stigma, discrimination and systemic neglect of HIV-positive people. Since its opening, the remembrance park has welcomed many facilities and events through its public art program, including works by Jean-Michel Othoniel, Steven EvansAnd Jenny Holzer.
“Craig’s Closet” is presented alongside a series of shows and musical performances. It is unveiling earlier this month was accompanied by a concert by Tender Ness and Jamie Reynolds. This Thursday, June 29 at 6 p.m., the park will host a reading poems featuring poet Pamela Sneed with composer-musicians Natalie Greffel and Mazz Swift.
“Art generates endless opportunities to expand its presence and multiply its usefulness, its function, its necessity,” Hodges said. Hyperallergic. “For many years I have invited artists to use occasions and contexts to respond and add. In the same spirit that I have been asked to respond on occasion, I am extending the offer to others. Because “Craig’s Closet” will be on view for a year, it provides me with the opportunity to engage other artists and invite them to use the room, time, inspiration and space for their own work.
Dave Harper, executive director of the NYC AIDS Memorial, hopes the new facility will encourage people to “remember those who are lost, reflect on the past, and renew themselves to continue the fight to end AIDS.”
“We also hope they will forge personal connections between individual and collective memory in relation to a complex history and this important and sacred site,” said Harper.
