Emerging Infectious Diseases

Eric Avery, artist

born 1948

Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2000

Where object was made: United States

Material/technique: linocut; mulberry paper

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 885 x 602 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 34 13/16 x 23 11/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 973 x 653 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 38 5/16 x 25 11/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 45 x 33 in

Credit line: Gift of the artist

Accession number: 2003.0191

Not on display

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Images

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Brosseau Center for Learning: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Access

The United States government took years to acknowledge the threat of HIV and AIDS and its disproportionate effect on the queer community. The slow response and silence from officials were reflected in the inadequate research into HIV treatment and prevention. As of 2019, more than 1.2 million people in the United States were living with HIV. Progress in treating HIV is slow but improving.

Healing, Knowing, Seeing the Body

Until very recently, many people living in the United States could easily dismiss infectious diseases as relics of the past or problems of the Global South; after all, many are preventable through hygiene, sanitation systems, vaccinations, and access to healthcare. However, infectious diseases have never been eradicated in the United States, and their impacts have been harrowing. Here, patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) lie in hospital wards while those sickened with highly contagious multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) lie in an isolation unit, their deadly germs exploding in ominous clouds from their mouths. A doctor holding an aerosol can labeled “OFF” refers to West Nile Encephalitis, which in 2000 was a new infection in the United States. The image is especially arresting and relevant in light of the current pandemic.

Healing, Knowing, Seeing the Body