POWER TO THE PEOPLE

POWER TO THE PEOPLE neon is based on the picket sign held by Marsha P. Johnson in a 1970 photograph by Diana Davies. In the photo, Johnson stands with her sign outside of NYU’s Bellevue Hospital to protest the hospital's inhumane treatment of gay, transgender and homeless people. 

Marsha P Johnson (August 24, 1945 – July 6, 1992), was a performer, activist, and founding member of the Gay Liberation Front, and co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.) with Sylvia Rivera. STAR focused on the needs of homeless transgender sex workers – providing shelter, food and legal support. STAR also worked to combat discrimination within the gay community. 

The neon was originally created to mark the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising (1969/2019) and to recognize Marsha P. Johnson’s activism at and beyond Stonewall. POWER TO THE PEOPLE is available (edition of 10) to benefit Queer|Art and Art for Black Lives - for more info or purchase visit Q|A here.

"History isn't something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities." - Marsh P Johnson

LOVE HAPPENED HERE (REMIXED)…

A selection of digital collages of text and images reflecting on art activism and HIV/AIDS – quilting together personal narratives with Visual AIDS artists projects, queer histories, and reinterpreted activist designs. Created for On Curating: What You Don’t Know about AIDS Could Fill A Museum. Edited by Theodore (ted) Kerr. Issue 42 / September 2019

Thank you to the artists whose works are include in this project: Nayland Blake, Jessica Whitbread, fierce pussy, Kay Rosen, Nancer LeMoins, Kia Labeija, Chloe Dzubilo, Carmine Santaniello, Joe Brainard, Zoe Leonard, Donald Moffett, Ben Cuevas, Michael Mitchell, Shan Kelley, Chris Johanson, Eric Hanson, Jayson Keeling, Tony Feher, Gran Fury, ACT UP, Peter Cramer and Jack Waters

OUT OF DARKNESS IS BORN THE LIGHT

OUT OF THE DARKNESS IS BORN THE LIGHT is an edition of printed flag banners, silk screened with reflective ink, that illuminates when hit with bright light or a camera flash, revealing the Catherine of Siena quote “Out of Darkness is Born the Light.”

Produced in 2018, during the Trump presidency, the message serves as an antidote to the dark rhetoric of the 45th administration and a news cycle of hateful policies, racist travel bands, police violence, mass shooting, and global terrorist attacks – it is a reminder to hold on to hope even during the darkest of times. Commissioned by Lite Brite Neon Studio, Edition of 40.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

UNTITLED (UNDIES)

Untitled (undies) is a series of hand made paper underwear made as tributes to HIV+ artists and friends. Works are donated annually to Postcards from the Edge benefit for Visual AIDS. Mixed-media on paper.