Scan barcode
A review by bethany6788
It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic by Jack Lowery
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
The book is about Gran Fury, an art collective born from ACT UP during the AIDS crisis, who used powerful art and direct action to challenge corporate greed and societal indifference. Their legacy continues to inspire today, showing the impact of solidarity and public art in fighting against injustice and supporting vulnerable communities.
Three of the most famous works by Gran Fury are Silence = Death, Read My Lips, and Kissing Doesn’t Kill. I never knew that one specific group was responsible for all three of these iconic images from the AIDS epidemic and movement. If you don’t know them by name, you likely will know them by imagine if you look them up online.
This is an incredible companion to all of the non-fiction books I’ve read so far on the AIDS epidemic. About how art can help create a movement and inspire people politically. How ACT UP was a catalyst for so many things we know as normal today. How people died waiting for a cure. For help. From government neglect. I really loved how this book dove into so many different aspects of the AIDS crisis and it went a step further by ending in the “now” and discussing vaccines recently released, protests in the last 10 years, and PTSD suffered by survivors of the AIDS epidemic.
I would fully recommend this one, especially on audio. It was well-written and narrated, easy to understand, and accessible for the average consumer. Just how ACT UP wanted it.
Incredible.
Three of the most famous works by Gran Fury are Silence = Death, Read My Lips, and Kissing Doesn’t Kill. I never knew that one specific group was responsible for all three of these iconic images from the AIDS epidemic and movement. If you don’t know them by name, you likely will know them by imagine if you look them up online.
This is an incredible companion to all of the non-fiction books I’ve read so far on the AIDS epidemic. About how art can help create a movement and inspire people politically. How ACT UP was a catalyst for so many things we know as normal today. How people died waiting for a cure. For help. From government neglect. I really loved how this book dove into so many different aspects of the AIDS crisis and it went a step further by ending in the “now” and discussing vaccines recently released, protests in the last 10 years, and PTSD suffered by survivors of the AIDS epidemic.
I would fully recommend this one, especially on audio. It was well-written and narrated, easy to understand, and accessible for the average consumer. Just how ACT UP wanted it.
Incredible.