In 1987, six years after the first cases of AIDS were detected, a group of six American artists and activists created “Silence = Death”, a slogan that aimed to break the taboos surrounding the disease. In twenty years, things have changed a lot. Medical research has advanced spectacularly. However, in many non-Western countries, prevention and the stigmatization of the sick are still unresolved.
There is no doubt that art is a form of knowledge, of questioning, of criticism, of empathy and of activism. In the United States of the 1980s, art took on an activist role to make its voice heard, demand rights and criticize an extremely conservative government. The campaigns and slogans of ACT UP; the “Imagevirus” series by General Idea with the AIDS logo occupying public space; the “AIDS Timeline” by Group Material; The gravity of Robert Mappelthorpe’s self-portrait or the subtlety of Félix González-Torres’ installations are just some examples of artistic proposals with a purpose of transcendence and awareness. In all cases, the artists had direct experience of the disease, but none of them focused their work on the physical impact of the disease on their body.
A large exhibition project has recently been inaugurated in Barcelona, presented in different institutions in the city, including the Suñol Foundation, Casa Asia, Casa Elizalde, Palau Robert and MACBA. The project is an initiative of the ArtAids Foundation, promoted and directed by the writer and collector Han Nefkens, with the aim of “channelling economic resources and human energies in favour of HIV-positive people and the prevention of the disease”. Convinced of the capacity of art as a driver of knowledge, Nefkens commissioned a project around this theme from around twenty artists. The results are quite varied: they are based on joint work with affected people (“Dead Man Walking” by L.A.Raeven, “El jardiner astrònom” by Josep M. Martín), they focus on the public presence of the disease (“Línea roja” by Ignasi Aballí, “Trad as I” by Antonio Ortega), or they carry out research processes in countries with well-defined problems (“Lab 50” by Pep Dardanyá).
It is curious how the attitude has changed a lot compared to the 80s, but the needs to communicate, make known, share, promote respect and action remain the same. The “Silence = Death” of the 80s can now be replaced by “You Are not Alone”.
[Article published in Bonart, 2010]
