It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful
How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic
PublicAffairs · Print & ebook · April 5, 2022
An “unsparing account” (NPR) of art collective Gran Fury, which fought back during the AIDS crisis through direct action and community-made propaganda In the late 1980s, the AIDS pandemic was annihilating queer people, intravenous drug users, and communities of color in America, and disinformation about the disease ran rampant.
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- Who it’s for
- Art, politics, and urgency braided into a sustained, eye-opening account.
- Genres
- Art & Politics, Activism & Social Justice, Gay Studies
- Published
- PublicAffairs, April 5, 2022
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An “unsparing account” (NPR) of art collective Gran Fury, which fought back during the AIDS crisis through direct action and community-made propaganda In the late 1980s, the AIDS pandemic was annihilating queer people, intravenous drug users, and communities of color in America, and disinformation about the disease ran rampant.
Continue reading
Out of the activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), an art collective that called itself Gran Fury formed to campaign against corporate greed, government inaction, stigma, and public indifference to the epidemic. Writer Jack Lowery examines Gran Fury’s art and activism from iconic images like the “Kissing Doesn’t Kill” poster to the act of dropping piles of fake bills onto the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Lowery offers a complex, moving portrait of a collective and its members, who built essential solidarities with each other and whose lives evidenced the profound trauma of enduring the AIDS crisis.
Art in Action
Art, politics, and urgency braided into a sustained, eye-opening account.
Come here for
- AIDS activism through art
- cultural memory with bite
Expect
- insight over polish
- history with a sharp human edge
Where it sits
| Art & Politics | 39% |
|---|---|
| Gay Studies | 25% |
| Activism & Social Justice | 21% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Art & Politics
- Social History
- LGBTQ+ Studies
- Authors
- Jack Lowery
- Publisher
- PublicAffairs
- Published
- April 5, 2022
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Art & Politics