ABSTRACT
AIDS, Art and Activism in Canada: Contextualizing
the Work of Steven Andrews and Andy Fabo
Robert Wesly-George Lee
1995
The social, cultural and political circumstances of the
sixties and seventies informed activist and artistic production responding AIDS in the
eighties and nineties. Activist art collectives appropriated images and styles from other
artists and favoured the public realm to transmit their message to as broad an audience as
possible. Other artists produced more personal works about AIDS, and showed in galleries
and museums, places that were criticized by activists for being what was considered too
far removed from the "real" world. While AIDS-related artwork in both Canada and
the United States has, at times, been met with resistance and censorship, a number of
factors have made it easier for Canadian artists to exhibit such work and receive funding
for its production. This study discusses artistic production in Canada and the United
States, to explore the work of Toronto artists Andy Fabo and Steven Andrews. The work of
these two artists provides a means of representing, self-identifying and affirming gay
communities, thereby encouraging safer-sex practices as collective, engaging, and active
community practices.
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