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Haring on the auction block >> A Montreal photographer uses Keith Haring's signature to raise money for AIDS by PHILIP PREVILLE
Back in '87 during a chance encounter in the New York subway, Roy (who works for Le Droit in Ottawa) took a photo of Haring beside a just-completed graffiti work. In 1989, when Haring was dying of AIDS, Roy printed ten enlarged (16" by 20") copies of his photograph, and Haring autographed them while on his deathbed. Roy then put them up for auction in early 1990 at Centaur Theatre, with all proceeds going, at the Haring Foundation's request, to front-line AIDS organizations. Roy sold six of them and raised a few thousand dollars in the process. Now, with the MMFA exhibit renewing the buzz around Haring's work, Roy figures the time is right to auction off the remaining four. All proceeds will go to ABAAPAS, a volunteer organization in the village that manages Montreal's Info-SIDA hotline and provides accompaniment and support for people living with AIDS. ABAAPAS director Pierre Coté says the auction will provide some desperately-needed funds. "Right now, both the federal and provincial governments are reviewing how they give money to AIDS organizations," Coté says. "Every organization is worried about their funding. We're worried too--some groups will definitely be left out in the cold. I'd say our chances of getting funding are two out of three." ABAAPAS will conduct the auction through silent bids. People can submit a bid anytime between now and January 15, 1999 and the four highest bids will take home the photos. The highest bid received will be updated and announced twice a week, so people can gauge whether their bid is high enough to get one of the photos. People can bid more than once. Bids can be submitted to ABAAPAS via fax at 521-5754, or in person at 1000 Sherbrooke East. You can also submit a bid at the bar Bily Kun (354 Mont-Royal East), which has agreed to post one of the photos (as well as the highest bid to date) for the general public. To find out the highest bid to date or for more info, call ABAAPAS at 521-3345
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Montreal photographer Martin Roy first met New York graffiti artist and AIDS activist Keith Haring in 1987. Now, with an exhibit of Haring's work on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, Roy has some unfinished business to take care of.