Untitled (Male Nude). Colored inks on cream wove paper. 279x355 mm; 10 7/8x14 inches. Signed in ink, lower right.
Provenance: Gifted from the playwright William Hoffman to producer John Glines; gifted to private collection, New York.
Kenny Burgess's Untitled (Male Nude) is referred to in the script of As Is, a play by William M. Hoffman. Directed by Marshall W. Mason and co-produced by The Circle Repertory Company and The Glines production company. The show opened on March 10, 1985, at the Circle Theatre, where it ran for 49 performances. The cast included Jonathan Hadary, Jonathan Hogan, Lou Liberatore, Ken Kliban and Claris Erickson. As Is portrays the effect that HIV, a relatively new epidemic in the 1980s, has on a group of friends living in New York City.
This play depicts a gay couple, Saul and Rich, who open the play with their relationship separation. Rich's decision to separate is reversed when he returns to Saul after contracting AIDS from his new lover. Seeking emotional support, Rich shows how people with AIDS were treated by the American family, doctors and friends. Their impersonal and detached attitudes lead Rich to recognize the importance of a partner for the gay individual.
Kenny Burgess designed the posters for the early plays of Cafe Cino, the West Village home of the Off-Broadway movement. Robert Patrick, William Hoffman, and Lanford Wilson are some of the successes from Cafe Cino. Burgess hid clues in the posters tipping off "in the know" audience members about the performances at Cafe Cino without alerting the NYC Police Department since Cafe Cino wasn't licensed for live performances. He was the dish-washer at Cafe Cino and created the posters and artwork on the side. Many of his works are in the permanent collection at the New York Public Library, Billy Rose Theatre Collection.
