The Plymouth Gran Fury was a car produced in the United States by Plymouth (Chrysler) between 1975 and 1989. A large car that consumed a lot of fuel, it exemplified the American way of life based on prosperity, freedom (confused with pride) and rampant domestic consumption without concern for the future. It was the type of car that represented the citizens who had voted for Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), with a Republican profile, highly conservative in ideas and customs, economically liberal, xenophobic to the core, and absolutely backward regarding sexual diversity and non-normative social standards. One consequence of this choice, early in Reagan’s first term in 1981, was the total lack of response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In response to this circumstance, Gran Fury was formed in New York in 1988 as part of an organization called ACT UP (Aids Coalition to Unleash Power). The group, composed of Richard Elovich, Avram Finkelstein, Amy Heard, Tom Kalin, John Lindell, Loring McAlpin, Marlene McCarty, Donald Moffett, Michael Nesline, Mark Simpson and Robert Vazquez-Pacheco, mobilized through various urban intervention strategies and pamphleteering to draw attention to the need for the creation and expansion of policies to confront and raise awareness about the disease. The collective lasted until 1995, and its collection (mainly consisting of posters and graphic pieces) is currently housed in the New York Public Library.
Now, as part of a program dedicated exclusively to diversity and LGBTQIA+ issues in the year 2024, the MASP (São Paulo Museum of Art) brings to Brazil, for the first time, an exhibition of this collective titled “Gran Fury: Art Is Not Enough,” curated by André Mesquita with assistance from David Ribeiro. The group was responsible for creating and disseminating iconic posters (all currently in the public domain on their website) with strong slogans and direct messages, sometimes illustrated with explicit photographs of the male sexual organ, urging the need for condom use, as seen in the piece “Men: Use Condoms or Beat It.” They also produced works aimed at overcoming prejudice, such as “All People with Aids Are Innocent” or “People With Aids In Prison Live 1/2 As Long As Those Treated Outside,” highlighting the additional need for care for the incarcerated population infected with the virus.
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