Patina du Prey’s Memorial Dress was an elegant sculpture and performance piece that directly confronted the loss and emotional turmoil felt by those affected by HIV and AIDS. For the project, Hunter Reynolds appeared in the guise of his alter-ego, Patina du Prey, wearing the Memorial Dress—a black silk ball gown printed with 25,000 names of people lost to AIDS, for which viewers were invited to submit names. The dress—a site for both mourning and memorial—was continuously filled and emptied by the artist’s body, acting as a transgendered figure of witness and hope.

Patina du Prey’s Memorial Dress was presented during the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and produced in collaboration with The Contemporary Art Institute of New York.

Photograph by Tom Brazil

Hunter Reynolds

Patina du Prey’s Memorial Dress

Manhattan

1994