SILENCE=DEATH
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
In 1987, Avram Finkelstein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Lione, and Jorge Socarrás founded the SILENCE=DEATH Project to support one another in the midst of the AIDS crisis. Inspired by the posters of the Art Workers Coalition and the Guerrilla Girls (both of whose work is on view nearby), they mobilized to spread the word about the epidemic and created the now-iconic Silence=Death poster featuring the pink triangle as a reference to Nazi persecution of LGBTQ people in the 1930s and 1940s. It became the central visual symbol of AIDS activism after it was adopted by the direct action advocacy group AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP).
HIV and AIDS remain a global health issue, with nearly 40 million people living with HIV at the end of 2017. Communities of color continue to face disproportionate effects of the disease as well as barriers to treatment. Today, ACT UP remains dedicated to their original 1987 slogan: ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!
Caption
SILENCE = DEATH Project (Avram Finkelstein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Li. SILENCE=DEATH, 1987. Offset lithograph, sheet: 33 9/16 × 21 15/16 in. (85.2 × 55.7 cm) mount: 33 9/16 × 21 15/16 in. (85.2 × 55.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Robert Thill in honor of Robin Renée Thill Beck, 1998.109. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1998.109_PS6.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
SILENCE = DEATH Project (Avram Finkelstein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Li
Printer
Commissioned by
Title
SILENCE=DEATH
Date
1987
Geography
Place made: New York, United States
Medium
Offset lithograph
Classification
Dimensions
sheet: 33 9/16 × 21 15/16 in. (85.2 × 55.7 cm) mount: 33 9/16 × 21 15/16 in. (85.2 × 55.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Robert Thill in honor of Robin Renée Thill Beck
Accession Number
1998.109
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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