San Francisco artist Ed Aulerich-Sugai died of AIDS in 1994. A quarter-century later, KunstWorks and the Ed Aulerich-Sugai Collection and Archive are working with the partners who survived him to honor his art and life. Aulerich-Sugai was a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute and a gardener at the Conservatory of Flowers. In his work, his treatment of bodily fragility and transience are balanced with his attention to the flourishing of life around him. Lovingly preserved, Aulerich-Sugai's paintings and dreams, gardens and drawings are tenaciously present.
Aulerich-Sugai was born in Honolulu and raised in Tacoma, Washington. He received his BFA in painting in 1974 from SFAI. His work was strongly influenced by his Japanese heritage and his experience of living with AIDS.
Since 1994, the work has been well preserved in the artist’s former studio and Ostrow’s current home. The oeuvre includes paintings and works on paper, spanning the artist’s career since 1970s through the last months of his life.
