Title: Activist artists | 11 famous protest art examples | Ruth Millington
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Activist artists | 11 famous protest art examples
Why is protest art important?
1. Dada & anti-war protest art
2. Diego Rivera & mural protest art
3. American artists protest the Vietnam War
4. Jacob Lawrence protests racial inequality
5. Keith Haring & AIDS activism
“Art is nothing if you don’t reach every segment of the people” – Keith Haring.
6. Paula Rego & abortion rights
7. Guerilla Girls & feminism
8. Ai Wei Wei & political protest art
“I believe the core value of an artist must be to express yourself freely and fight for the freedom of others” – Ai Wei Wei.
9. Nan Goldin protests drug money
10. Void One attacks government cuts
“I didn’t set out to make political art but art is a platform where I can vent my frustrations” – Void One.
11. Kara Walker & anti-empire protest art
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Content: “Art is nothing if you don’t reach every segment of the people” – Keith Haring. Paula Rego protested abortion rights in Portugal in a series of powerful pastels
6. Paula Rego & abortion rights
In 1998 Portuguese born artist Paula Rego created a series of work entitled Untitled. The Abortion Pastels. Rego created her work in response to a referendum to legalise abortion in Portugal, which was very narrowly defeated. Each canvas depicted the image of a woman undergoing an unsafe abortion. When the series was exhibited in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, Rego recalled the whispered secrets of women in the gallery while looking at her artworks. In turn, after being exhibited, her work is stated to have been integral in changing public opinion. It’s a powerful example of feminist protest art impacting on local and national views. “It highlights the fear and pain and danger of an illegal abortion, which is what desperate women have always resorted to.