Inspiration for now in 'Gran Fury: Art Is Not Enough'

Out now from MASP and KMEC Books, Gran Fury: Art Is Not Enough is, unfortunately, perfectly timed for this moment in America—not only looking back to our recent pandemic, but applied to the current administration’s epic war on diversity, gender freedom and civil rights. The first major survey of the game-changing NYC activist artist collective whose late-80s to mid-90s graphic artworks fearlessly demanded change around the outrages of the AIDS epidemic, this indispensable catalog includes 156 reproductions of artworks, documentary photographs, pamphlets, manifestoes and other rare ephemera, alongside previously unpublished essays and historical interviews. “Acknowledging that ‘art is not enough’ does not signify a complete renunciation of art in favor of activism,” MASP curator André Mesquita writes, “nor does it imply that artistic practices are ineffective in driving social change. On the contrary, Gran Fury’s assertion suggests that simply creating art about a crisis is no longer enough. Rather, periods of challenge present revolutionary moments for radical imagination and the confrontation of hegemonic and oppressive systems. Their graphic work encourages us to recognize the urgent need for artists, activists and cultural agents to unite as a solid political force towards direct action that aligns with protest movements.” The poster When a Government Turns Its Back on Its People (1988) was commissioned for Full Blown Image AIDS: An Art Exhibition about Living and Dying, Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany.

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