The AIDS crisis emerged at a time before the Internet, social media, cell phones, and text messaging.  Art became the primary means for activists to get their message out.  Art drove the AIDS activist movement.

Grand Fury Art Collective

Grand Fury was a group of artists within ACT UP who created art designed to shock and mobilize people.  They targeted both the LBGTQ community and the public at large.  Much of their work borrowed heavily from corporate advertising using phrases and themes from mainstream media to convey their political messages.  Watch this short video (54 sec) to see examples of Gran Fury’s work along with commentary by a number of the artists at the end.