MAKE ART STOP AIDS | 2008

“Provides more than just a lecture on the difficult subject of AIDS and the fragility of life: it finds poetry where few of us dare to search.”
Edward Goldman, KCRW’s Art Talk, Feb. 26, 2008

“A sprawling, complex, and moving exhibition.”
Annie Buckley, Artforum.com Critics’ Picks

“A must experience: emotional, educational, empowering.”
Nancy Lupo, ArtSlant
Make Art/Stop AIDS is an internationally traveling exhibition debuting at the Fowler that explores how artists around the world are responding to HIV/AIDS and how their work raises awareness, inspires activism, and can ultimately help end global AIDS. Featuring examples primarily from the United States, South Africa, India and Brazil—four disparate nations whose distinct experiences with and responses to the epidemic make insightful studies —Make Art/Stop AIDS presents approximately sixty works including contemporary paintings and sculptures, photographs, performance videos, posters, animated shorts, digital media, installations and more to record the history of the epidemic, to appreciate its enormity, and to share information and ideas about future interventions. The exhibition features work by Robert Gober, David Wojnarowicz, Fiona Kirkwood, Daniel Goldstein, Jean Carlomusto, and the collective Gran Fury, among many others.

EXHIBITION IN DEPTH

For more than twenty-five years, artists have joined with activists, medical experts, and others to inspire, provoke, and guide the radical changes that the global AIDS crisis demands. Make Art/Stop AIDS—an internationally traveling exhibition debuting at the Fowler Museum at UCLA on Feb, 23, 2008—shows how artists around the world have responded to HIV/AIDS and how their work can raise awareness, inspire activism, and ultimately help end global AIDS. The exhibition will be on display through June 15, 2008.

Featuring examples from the United States, South Africa, India and Brazil—four disparate nations whose distinct experiences with and responses to the epidemic make insightful studies —Make Art/Stop AIDS presents more than sixty contemporary works including paintings, sculptures, photographs, performance videos, posters, animated shorts, digital media, and installations that engage these questions: What is AIDS? Who lives, who dies? Why are condoms controversial? Are you afraid to touch? When was the last time you cried? Why a red ribbon? Are you ready to act?

“This collection of stunning works from around the world underlines the substantial contribution artists can make in times of crisis. This work is not for auction—it’s not intended to raise money for AIDS services or scientific research. Its function, rather, is to intervene in the epidemic by shifting attitudes, educating, mourning, and goading, sometimes all at the same time,” says David Gere, co-curator.

Related Links: fowler.ucla.edu