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Fever Within

Ronald Lockett

1965–1998

Fever Within, 1995

Found tin, colored pencil, and nails on wood

Museum purchase, American Art Trust Fund, and gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection 2017.1.38

In 1994 Ronald Lockett learned that he had contracted HIV, possibly from a female partner who is the likely subject of Fever Within. This naked figure sits cross-legged on a small scrap of fabric that seems to hover against an empty background, evoking isolation and loneliness. The cross-like composition suggests both a window frame—and the sensation of being trapped inside or outside—and the potential of spiritual salvation.

Not long before dying from AIDS-related pneumonia, Lockett expressed his thoughts regarding his own mortality: "If it would end today or tomorrow, I just try to do the best I can do, keeping my art honest and coming from my heart. It's like the last few minutes of a basketball game when the clock is ticking and you've got to shoot, you just want to nail it like. It means so much to show 'em you can do it."