{"id":137405,"date":"2026-01-30T08:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T08:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/137405\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T08:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T08:45:10","slug":"new-work-from-tampa-artist-patrick-carew-explores-what-it-means-to-experience-hiv-in-the-post-prep-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/137405\/","title":{"rendered":"New work from Tampa artist Patrick Carew explores what it means to experience HIV in the post-prep era"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"APatrick Carew at Dave Decker Photography in Ybor City, Florida on Jan. 12, 2026. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

Tampa art insiders know Patrick Carew<\/a> as the curator of Reverb, a small gallery in Kress Contemporary programmed by graduate students from USF\u2019s College of Design, Art and Performance. Or at least, he was Reverb\u2019s curator in 2025.<\/p>\n

In 2026, as Carew prepares to graduate from The University of South Florida in Tampa, he\u2019s focused on a new body of work exploring what it means to experience HIV in the post-prep era.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fitting project for USF, which has several connections to the history of HIV healthcare. Robert Gallo, one of the scientists credited with discovering HIV as the cause of AIDS, is the founding director of the USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation. And Phillip Furman, co-inventor of Retrovir (AZT), graduated from USF in 1972.<\/p>\n

But outside of a laboratory, how does a photographer\/printmaker at the USF\u2019s School of Art & Art History capture a virus that can only be seen with an electron microscope? Carew chose to image bodily fluids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking of the ways HIV is tested for,\u201d Carew told CL.<\/p>\n

These days, there are both blood and saliva tests for HIV, so Carew tried imaging both, placing saliva or blood onto a piece of plastic, then using that makeshift slide as a photographic negative.<\/p>\n

He started with spit, but once he saw how blood appears in darkroom prints, he stuck with that. \u201cBlood happens to be the exact right color to block out light perfectly in the dark room,\u201d Carew explained.<\/p>\n

In some cases, the photo itself is the art. In other cases, Carew transfers his photographic images onto an etching plate using photo polymer, thus creating an etching.<\/p>\n

Sometimes he collages others\u2019 photos. Lately, Carew\u2019s been collaging porn from the height of the AIDS epidemic.<\/p>\n

\"APatrick Carew\u2019s \u2018Heaven Knows They Need It\u2019 Credit: c\/o Patrick Carew<\/p>\n

Carew shares artworks from this series in \u201cFrom All Sides of the Page At Once: a group exhibition of traditional (and not so traditional) printmaking\u201d at Tempus Projects Flash Gallery from Jan. 15-March 19 in Ybor City.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s just the beginning. Carew\u2019s work will also be featured at the University of South Florida\u2019s MFA Thesis Exhibition, which coincides with ArtHouse each year. The School of Art and Art History\u2019s signature event happens in April, is free and open to the public, and features live music, open studios and affordable student artwork for sale.<\/p>\n

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This article appears in Jan. 29 \u2013 Feb. 04<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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