Visual Aid’s HOME FRONT and GET OUT OF JAIL FREE

March 3 - June 5

Reception at the Foundation Thursday, April 17 - 4:30 - 6:30 pm
 

The purpose of this exhibition is to promote dialogue on illness and art and create visibility and awareness of Visual Aid’s programs--especially in Marin, which has the highest concentration of artists per capita of any county in the United States.

Visual Aid encourages artists with life-threatening illnesses to continue their creative work. Each year, over 70 professional, visual artists suffering from disabling, life-threatening illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and Breast Cancer benefit from Visual Aid’s programs. Serving Bay Area visual artists from diverse backgrounds, the organization encourages artists to remain active participants in the larger arts community by providing free art supplies, exhibition opportunities, career counseling and other services.

Funded and hosted by the Marin Community Foundation, Visual Aid presents an exhibition in three parts. These include HOME FRONT, featuring works by eight Visual Aid artists; GET OUT OF JAIL FREE, 124 small works from the Visual Aid community, along with works by other local artists, including ones from Marin and around the world; and a timeline and overview of the AIDS pandemic, contributed by the Marin AIDS Project.

The title HOME FRONT refers to the private, individual struggles of artists living with life-threatening illnesses. Each day, these artists continue their creative work, courageously facing prejudice, isolation, and depression while confronting the powerful side effects of medication and the uncertainty of illness.

HOME FRANT showcases powerful new paintings, photographs, collages, and mixed media works by eight outstanding Visual Aid artists (Michael Breck, Richard Bolingbroke, Barbara Cooper, Martine Jardel, David King, Robert Rice, Nevin Robinson, and Veronica Rojas). These highly evolved works of art reflect a wide range of styles and techniques.

GET OUT OF JAIL FREE is an exhibit exploring the theme of imprisonment as a metaphor for illness and for other issues of struggle in political, social, and personal arenas.

More information on Visual Aid can be found on its website.

This exhibit is dedicated in loving memory to artist Barbara Cooper (1950-2007).