VISUAL Artivism
a zine by
VISUAL ARTIVISM This zine was published in tandem with the High Line Teens event Artivist Teen Summit. The purpose of the zine is to highlight contemporary visual artivists. Definition of Artivism: Chela Sandoval in her article Chicana/o Artivism: Judy Baca’s Digital Work with Youth of Color said, “The term artivism is a hybrid neologism that signifies work created by individuals who see an organic relationship between art and activism.“ Author, rapper, and professor M.K. Asante talked about artivism in his book It’s Bigger Than Hip Hop and said, “The artivist (artist + activist) uses her artistic talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression-- by any medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the imagination. The artivist knows, that to make an observation is to have an obligation.” In this zine, Cósmica is highlighting 4 visual artivists and their projects. We also included the names of more artivists to explore on your own at the back of the zine. By no means do we think this is a comprehensive list. There are tons of artists who blend their activism with their artistry so please feel free to share more with us on our Instagram or Facebook page! Instagram: @ColectivaCosmica Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ColectivaCosmica Website: www.ColectivaCosmica.com
Tatyana Fazlalizadeh : Stop Telling Women to Smile The Stop Telling Women to Smile project is an art series that began as a public service announcement denouncing gender-based street harassment. Women experience street harassment all over the world and Tatyana Fazlalizadeh wanted to address the global issue. Fazlalizadeh began by interviewing women about their street harassment experiences. She drew their portraits, designed a poster, and began posting wheat pastes of the posters on public walls. She drew their portraits, designed a poster, and began posting wheat pastes of the posters on public walls. Images of women coupled with text like “STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN,” “Stop Telling Women to Smile,” and other anti-harassment messages took up space in arenas where women are often made to feel uncomfortable. After the first wave of wheatpastes were plastered across Brooklyn in 2012, Fazlalizadeh began to receive international support for her work. She now travels the world giving lectures about street harassment, interviewing more women and spreading her art around the globe.
Artist website is http://www.tlynnfaz.com/ Project Website: http://stoptellingwomentosmile.com/ Instagram: @tlynnfaz
Gabriel Garcia Roman: Queer Icons Gabriel Garcia Roman is a Mexican-American artist transforming undocumented poets, artists, organizers etc.-- all queer and mostly people of color-- into Saint-like figures with beaming halos in his works of art. Roman saw the need to uplift his community through art, so for the past few years he’s been photographing, collaging, and using various printmaking techniques to create exquisite portraits of Queer people of color who do commendable community work. Through his art, Roman has been part of the solution to heighten queer visibility in an inclusive and positive way. Most recently he had a solo show at Gallery Aferro in Newark and created a digital mural of his Queer Icons at the renowned Galeria de la Raza in San Francisco.
Artist’s Website: http://gabrielgarciaroman.com/ Instagram: @gbrlgrcrmn
Matika Wilbur: Project 562
Project 562 is a photo project begun by photographer Matika Wilbur that aims to document citizens of each federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. At the beginning of the project there were 562 tribes but as of today there are 566. With her photo project, Wilbur wants to change the public consciousness concerning indigenous groups to show that Native peoples are still alive and their cultures still exist in complex and varying ways. She wants to make information about the tribes available to all while providing a salve to the stereotypes, historical inaccuractes, and the overwhelming absence of information on indigenous communities. She began this project in 2012 in order to begin sharing stories and initiating conversations about tribal communities.
Matika Wilbur is a Native American woman of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes (Washington.) She is an artist and social documentarian using photography to explore the contemporary Native identity and experience. Artist’s Website: http://www.matikawilbur.com/ Project’s Website: http://www.project562.com/ Instagram: @matikawilbur
Chi Nguyen: 5.4 Million and Counting
5.4 Million and Counting was a public embroidery art project that aimed to visualize the potential number of women who would be affected by a Texas law that would place extreme barriers to reproductive health centers in the state of Texas. The project would eventually become a huge quilt with swatches of materials being sent in from all over the country. Each swatch contained tally marks that would together add up to 5.4 million. Brooklyn-based textile artist Chi Nguyen came up with the idea to use craft as activism and collaboratively create this quilt after visiting the Rio Grande Valley in Texas for National Women’s Day and learning about the horrible state of reproductive health services in those areas. The project aimed to make people aware of the potential restrictions on reproductive health this bill could cause across the U.S. “Stitch Ins” were held across the country where groups of people got together to stitch and educate others about the harmful effects of the bill called Texas HB2. The Supreme Court struck down the Texas HB2 in June of 2016.
“Artivism visualizes the conditions that we want to change and allows the community to guide us on how to make these changes a reality.” -Chi Nguyen Chi Nguyen is a queer artist originally from Vietnam whose work often deals with feminism, war resolutions, globalization, and the search for one’s identity.
Artist Website: http://artistseekingrelevance.com/ Project Website: http://5point4million.tumblr.com/ Instagram: @whatchidid
More Visual Artivists and Projects to learn about: Ester Hernandez Emory Douglas Rini Templeton Guerilla Girls Barbara Kruger Lunar New Year (LNY) Judy Baca The Argus Project Melanie Cervantes Jesus Barraza MATA RUDA Lorna Simpson Ai Wei Wei Favianna Rodriguez Tania Bruguera Nani Chacon Minerva Cuevas People’s Climate Arts Pedro Reyes