Name/Title
Life SupportEntry/Object ID
1872.Pa07Description
An organic shape, reminiscent of two profiles placed back to back, glows in contrast to the black background behind it. Colorful geometric prints intertwine to give life to the abstract figure. Embedded in the complexities of alternating colors, white outlines suggest the presence of facial features. From the top and bottom of the figure, red tubes extend and attach to a pouch on the right. Blue undulating lines and droplets fill the auxiliary container.
Hansen’s work dealt with the cycle of life and death found in nature. Like many members of the Provincetown community, Hansen’s life was heavily impacted by the AIDS epidemic. He lost friends, lovers, and ultimately his own battle with AIDS. Life Support provides an excellent example of how Hansen’s work examined the impact and turmoil with the virus. During the AIDS epidemic, Provincetown felt the effects to its core. However, from the horrors of loss, Provincetown strengthened its community.
Hansen brings a note of whimsicality to rather dark, intense subject matters. As HIV+ patients flocked to P-Town in the 1980s, the sense of welcoming and connection offered an energy to remind everyone of the good in life. Hansen’s work touched on topics such as struggles between good and evil, or love and hate, or faith and fear. No perfect answer exists as to why life unfolds as it does, but like Hansen’s work, being able to hold on to life’s goodness propels us forwards.
In accepting and addressing the realities of the epidemic head-on, Provincetown found freedom from the negligence felt elsewhere. Henry David Thoreau once said, “A man may stand there and put all of America behind him,” in reference to the Provincetown dunes. But, when HIV+ and AIDS patients sought refuge in the seclusion of Provincetown, they were able to put the hate and misinformation of America behind them.
Not only did the welcoming Provincetown community offer the medical care explicitly alluded to in Life Support, it also afforded its inhabitants with the necessary emotional and psychological support that was limited and even unattainable elsewhere.
Although the AIDS epidemic that struck gay communities in the '80s and '90s has passed, there are countless reasons that drive visitors to seek refuge in Provincetown. Connection and community is a necessity that Provincetown continuously offers. Whatever mask an individual wears elsewhere can be shed at the tip of Cape Cod.Artwork Details
Medium
Watercolor on paperAcquisition
Accession
1872Acquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift from the estate of the artist, 2007Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Signature, Title, DateLocation
LRDimensions
Dimension Description
SightHeight
22 inWidth
19 inDimension Description
FinishedHeight
32-1/4 inWidth
28-1/4 in