New Exhibit Made From the Blood of Gay Men


A shot of "Blood Mirror."

A shot of “Blood Mirror.”

It’s protest art not for the faint of heart: A new exhibit, called Blood Mirror, features a giant 7-foot tall sculpture that is literally made from the blood of gay men.

Artist Jordan Eagles constructed the project as a form of protest over the FDA’s ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. He asked nine men to donate their blood to build the sculpture that’s being shown at the American University Museum in Washington, D.C. starting on September 12.

Among the men who gave blood are “an 88-year-old openly gay priest; A Nigerian gay rights activist on political asylum in the U.S.; A Co-Founder of Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC); The CEO of GMHC; An identical gay twin whose straight brother is eligible to donate; A captain in the Army who served two terms in Iraq and was discharged under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ (reinstated to service in 2014); A married transgender male couple, and; A bisexual father of two. Dr. Howard Grossman, former director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine, was the medical supervisor on the project, as well as a blood donor. Each man is currently ineligible to donate blood under the FDA’s current policy — but since they cannot donate their blood to save lives, they’ve chosen to donate their blood for art.”

According to the Museum, the sculpture “is a seven-foot-tall monolith in which the viewer can see him or herself reflected in the blood of the nine donors, which has been encased and fully preserved. A totem of science and equality, the sculpture is a time capsule of the donors’ blood that embodies the 32-year history of the FDA’s discriminatory ban.”

In addition to the sculpture, a documentary film on the project was created that will be screened at the exhibit: