Ed Aulerich-Sugai

Ed Aulerich-Sugai was an Asian American artist, writer, gardener, and AIDS activist. Primarily a representational painter, he drew inspiration from traditional Japanese mythology and iconography, which he transformed through a contemporary lens. His work also draws upon the anatomy of humans and animals to explore the power and fragility of life. Aulerich-Sugai died of AIDS in 1994. A quarter-century later, his work stands as a unique document of his seven-year experience of living with the disease. The oeuvre includes journals, paintings, and works on paper spanning the artist’s career, from the 1970s through the last months of his life.

Aulerich-Sugai grew up in Tacoma and experienced social isolation in the mostly white, working-class city of the 1950s and 1960s. In 1970, after graduating from Tacoma Community College, Aulerich-Sugai moved to San Francisco and enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute where he received his BFA in painting in 1974. He worked as a gardener and painter throughout his career. His artwork was exhibited at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, New Langton Arts, Asian Art Museum, and Stephen Wirtz Gallery, among other Bay Area institutions.

For additional information and artworks visit: https://www.edaulerich-sugai.com/

[accessed Jan. 2021]

[source: Ed Aulerich-Sugai Collection and Archive]