Deimantas Narkevicius
Latifa Echakhch
Danh Vo
Christodoulos Panayiotou
Lorena Zilleruelo
Lucy and Jorge Orta
Elmgreen & Dragset
Hilde Teerlinck
Irene Aristizabal
The exhibition is intended to prompt reflection on the discrimination and stigmatisation to which, even today, AIDS sufferers are subject. Although medical advances have increased the expectancy and quality of life of sufferers, at least in the developed world, this progress has not been reflected in a reduction in the social rejection they experience. 14 artists from around the world help to fight stigmatisation by reappraising the causes, consequences and current context of AIDS as well as the ways of fighting it.
curated by Hilde Teerlinck and Irene Aristizábal
“When you share, you are not alone”.
Han Nefkens, Founder and President of the ArtAids Foundation
Coproduced between the ArtAids Foundation, Fundació Joan Miró and the MARCO, the exhibition You Are Not Alone is intended to prompt reflection on the discrimination and stigmatisation to which, even today, AIDS sufferers are subject. Although medical advances have increased the expectancy and quality of life of sufferers, at least in the developed world, this progress has not been reflected in a reduction in the social rejection they experience.
Social and collective initiatives can overcome false perceptions and habits arising from ignorance and prejudice, and art can help to change views and attitudes.
In You Are Not Alone, 14 artists from around the world help to fight stigmatisation by reappraising the causes, consequences and current context of AIDS as well as the ways of fighting it. The works in the exhibition offer a vision of AIDS from the perspective of different countries on different continents, all of which suffer the illness to a greater or lesser intensity. These visions will help raise awareness among viewers of the need to exchange knowledge and experiences in order to fight the illness and prejudice both openly and fearlessly.
The ArtAids Foundation has produced works specifically designed for the exhibition by nine internationally acclaimed artists whose work does not generally approach the subject of AIDS. The selected artists are Deimantas Narkevičius (Lithuanis), Latifa Echakhch (Morocco), Danh Vo (Denmark/Vietnam), Christodoulos Panayiotou (Cyprus), Lorena Zilleruelo (Chile), Lucy and Jorge Orta (United Kingdom and Argentina) and Elmgreen & Dragset (Denmark and Norway).
The new works will be presented with a selection of pieces recently incorporated in the ArtAids collection by David Goldblatt (South Africa), Otto Berchem (United States), Sutee Kunavichayanont (Thailand), Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (Thailand) and Juul Hondius (Holland).
The work of Matthew Darbyshire (United Kingdom), intended to provide a space for reflection about AIDS, is presented at the end of the exhibition. The room recalls the approach to the subject in the nineteen-eighties and -nineties by artists such as Group Material and by AIDS awareness campaigns. A view of the illness by Pepe Espaliú, a Spanish artist who died from AIDS in 1993, appears by way of an introduction.
Through this exhibition, the ArtAids Foundation, Fundació Joan Miró and the MARCO wish to condemn and express in no uncertain terms current prejudices towards AIDS, which contribute to the isolation of sufferers. If, as Han Nefkens states, sharing means not feeling alone, then it is our wish to share this sentiment with the public to provide a reminder that “you are not alone”.
In the case of the MARCO, this exhibition is the second collaborative project with Han Nefkens, founder and president of the ArtAids Foundation, who previously took part in the exhibition The Suspended Moment (2006)..
Communications Department
Marta Viana / Pilar Souto
+34 986 113900
marta.viana@marcovigo.com
pilar.souto@marcovigo.com
Image: Lucy + Jorge Orta, 70 x 7 l´àpat Act XXVI
MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporanea
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