Painter, printmaker: San Francisco, Calif. Sexton was born in San Francisco and grew up in nearby Milpitas. He attended classes at San Jose City College while still in high school graduating in 1974. In 1978 he moved to San Francisco and worked for several years before enrolling at the San Francisco Art Institute. A symbolist artist, Sexton rarely explained his works except in his poems and other writings. Many of his works were based on dreams, those of his friends as well as his own dreams. He considered his best work to be "A conversation with God" it features a brown body with different colored heads facing a deity wearing a mask. His works also depicted the devastation of AIDS and its effects on society, not only the gay community. Sexton died of complications associated with AIDS. His ashes were used as an ingredient mixed with paint and used to paint several portraits of him. The rest were scattered at the Palace of Legion of Honors by his parents and friend Daniel Woods.
