English III HL
Pereira
20 May 2016
How AIDS Penetrated Not Only Humans, But Also Their Culture The United States during the 1980s was the hub of the AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) outbreak. This disease would go on to claim the lives of thousands of citizens including numerous entertainers and artists, causing others in those perspective communities to respond with epidemic, politicized art exhibitions, written pieces, music, and plays. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services) Mark Doty was among many of the different types of artists who expressed his advocacy for the AIDS epidemic. This is seen in his series of poems entitled Atlantis, documenting instances of his partner fighting a battle with AIDS. Their …show more content…
The artwork of Keith Haring has almost always been associated with graffiti or spray art by the public. (Mercurio) Yet, in actuality there is really a minimal relationship to Haring’s style in this particular piece of artwork entitled Ignorance=Fear. (Mercurio) Haring did not quite draw from the street art and graffiti art elements in the 1980s. But rather he drew inspiration from numerous contemporary artists like, Jean Dubuffet, Christo, Pierre Alechinsky, and Matisse. He would fuse the cartoon art he learned from his father and the post surrealist tradition style of art of William Burroughs as well. (Mercurio) Haring claimed that process of creating art was to help him transcend reality and help him think outside of societies’ bounds and conformities. (Mercurio) It was quite well known that Haring was a user of psychedelic drugs, but his origins in the counterculture are clear too. He wanted to stand up and protest the government for ignoring issues he felt were important like gay rights. (Mercurio) He made of use issues that were topics of current discussion in the 1980s like the use of the drug crack for his …show more content…
There is not much information concerning Marc Lida and his background. He was a gay man, presumably an activist for AIDS during the 1980s. (Visual Aids Organization) But his painting AIDS #5 has become a prominent piece of work coming out of the AIDS Epidemic. (Visual Aids Organization). The style in which this painting is done is expressionism. Expressionism typically is used to show viewers the world, “solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionist artists sought to express the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality.” (Thompson) AIDS #5 is a work that a viewer stop to analyze, much like almost all expressionist art. It’s not a piece of Pop Art meant to grab the audience's attention to convey a message about a pop culture issue. It is more a subtle expression of one’s belief of love. Yet, they are so many other ways that people can define this painting. Lida was trying to get people to really think about this rising gay culture and how it was not going away any time