Protest Art- AIDS Crisis

This piece “Ignorance=Fear, Silence=Death,” was made by Keith Haring in 1989, during the AIDS crisis. HIV was a deadly disease that emerged in the early 1980s, primarily affecting gay men. The disease caused rapid immune system failure, and over 700,000 individuals died from AIDS. HIV was transmitted through the sharing of needles, sexual contact, and from mother to child transmission. There was widespread misinformation about the disease leading people to avoid even touching someone with the diagnosis. It led to the isolation and discrimination of people with AIDS, often paired with intense homophobia. Keith Haring was an openly gay man who contracted HIV during this epidemic, two years after his diagnosis he died of the disease. This piece was a deeply personal way of illustrating how misinformation and biased hatred impacts the human soul more than any disease.The big red X’s one the characters illustrates that when someone is diagnosed with the disease they are turned into a target for dehumanization. Act Up was an AIDS activist group during the time period. The piece was to encourage the public to stay informed because ignorance kills.