Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism
March 17 – July 1, 2018
ONE Gallery, West Hollywood
626 North Robertson Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Gallery Hours:
Thursday through Sunday: 11am-2pm & 3pm-6pm
Closed Mon – Weds
Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism examines thirty years of inspiring and defiant safer sex and harm-reduction activism. The exhibition presents safer sex posters, comics, brochures, videos, PSAs, and safer sex and clean needle kits, among other archival items, all from the collections at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries.
While at the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s widespread public perception linked AIDS to gay men and intravenous drug users, Lost & Found reveals how activists sought to educate and empower varying publics about the pervasive epidemic. Rather than stigmatize sexuality, these educational projects often went hand-in-hand with sex positive practices. Utilizing novel and accessible forms, Lost & Found shows how the dissemination of information sought to cross cultural, economic, linguistic, and class divisions. While the majority of materials were produced in the 1980s and 1990s, the exhibition also connects these histories to the ongoing AIDS crisis through contemporary artists and activist projects.
Lost & Found: Safer Sex Activism is co-curated by David Evans Frantz, curator at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries, and independent curator Hannah Grossman, with support from exhibition consultant Neal Baer, M.D. Lost & Found is organized by the One Institute, Inc. Generous support is provided by the Herb Ritts Foundation, The Calamus Foundation of New York, Inc. and the City of West Hollywood.
About the One Institute, Inc: The One Institute, Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) dedicated to telling the accurate and authentic stories of LGBTQ people, history and culture through public exhibitions, educational projects and trainings, and community outreach programs. Our exhibitions, school programs, and community outreach programs are free. We depend entirely on members of the public and private foundations for support.
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Image: (top) Gran Fury, Kissing Doesn’t Kill, 1989-90. Poster, 11 1/2 x 37 inches. ONE Poster Collection. ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries
Image: (middle left) Color Coded safer sex poster, 1995. A collaboration between the Gay Men of Color Consortium, Los Angeles (GMOCC) and the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies (LACPS). Poster, 15 1/4 x 22 1/4 inches. Photography by Wayne Shimabukuro. Design by Roberto San Luis. ONE Poster Collection. ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
Image: (middle) AIDS Project of the East Bay safer sex poster, c. 1990s. Poster, 11 x 15 1/8 inches. Photography by Hopeton Stewart. Production, design, and layout by Valerie Papaya Mann, and Earnest Hite. ONE Poster Collection. ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
Image (middle right) Cover for the Safer Sex Comix #4, 1986. Gay Men’s Health Crisis. Artwork by Donelan, story by Greg. AIDS History Project Collection. ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
Image (bottom) San Francisco AIDS Foundation safer sex poster, 1992. Poster, 18 x 39 inches. Photography by Michele Clement. Design by Scott Sidorsky. ONE Poster Collection. ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
