Visualizing Voyeurism: Authored by Emily Mendelson and Eta Pastreich, Binghamton UniversityMain Menu"Visualizing Voyeurism"What is Voyeurism?Opening ViewParisian TypesNudes AlbumMyths and Biblical Themes ViewMyths and Biblical ThemesIntimacy Corner ViewThe Rise and Fall of the 3rd StreamEmbraceThe Captivating Desire: AIDS #4Rooftop SunbatherFeminist Photography ViewUntitled Film StillsGallery Wall of SketchesThe Desublimation of RomanceDanae and the Golden Shower; VitrineGallery Wall ViewPainter Sketching and Nude Model in a HatMeet the AuthorsBinghamton University Art Museum Fair Use StatementHilary Becker8acde8ddd866de3e1500ef02591b1ae693bb7788Written by Emily Mendelson and Eta Pastreich, Binghamton University
The Captivating Desire: AIDS #4
1media/1996.12_thumb.jpg2020-05-04T12:48:06-07:00Emily Mendelsondf4e2cd2c9dea5ae8f1ce363794d93386798b8e8373371John Copoulos, (American, b. 1952), The Captivating Desire: AIDS #4, 1986, Oil on masonite, 24 x24 inches, Gift of Stuart Katz, Source: Binghamton University Art Museumplain2020-05-04T12:48:06-07:00Emily Mendelsondf4e2cd2c9dea5ae8f1ce363794d93386798b8e8
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12020-04-27T13:40:38-07:00The Captivating Desire: AIDS #48plain2020-05-04T21:20:51-07:00Beginning in 1981, the AIDS crisis created a mass cultural hysteria about HIV. The failure of adequate sexual education created a public heath panic that particularly targeted gay men. This led to a generation of gay men being forced to navigate the trauma of losing community members alongside the fear of stigmatization after a positive diagnosis. The AIDS crisis exposed the gay community to an onslaught of voyeurs who promulgated misconceptions of gay men and further policed their lifestyles through stereotypes of hypersexuality and promiscuity. The voyeurism in this piece differs from its traditional iteration in that the same-sex desiring gaze causes vouyerism to lose much of its pernicious character when removed from the context of patriarchal power over women. Copoulos’ work is from the height of the AIDS crisis, and the painting is staged so that the viewer is given a view into the intimacy of this crisis for the three men in the painting.
