Love and Fury: AIDS Activist Graphic Design at Poster House

The exhibition "Love and Fury: New York's Fight Against AIDS" at Poster House in Chelsea, curated by Ian Bradley-Perrin, showcases how graphic design was used as a tool for AIDS activism. The show traces the efforts of activists in mid-1980s New York who, often working clandestinely at copy shops like Kinko's, produced stark and colorful flyers, posters, and stickers to demand action against the AIDS crisis. The exhibition is organized into four sections, which can be viewed in either direction, reflecting the simultaneous nature of the crisis. It covers early grassroots safe-sex education, agitprop from groups like ACT UP and Gran Fury targeting political inaction and healthcare inequality, and later sections on mainstreaming activism and generating funds and joy. Notable works include the iconic "Silence = Death" poster with a pink triangle on black, and Keith Haring's "Ignorance = Fear" poster. Bradley-Perrin, an HIV-positive socio-medical historian, emphasizes that activists identified media gatekeepers and created visuals to grow their numbers and speak to the public. The exhibition is housed in the museum's subterranean space.