Artivism at its finest
From Huffington Post
A Venezuelan artist is making a bold statement about queerness and art’s power to aid in the breaking down of stereotypes related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) identity.
The “I’m Not A Joke“ campaign from Daniel Arzola is a series of images inscribed with compelling truths about human diversity that encourages individuals to live as their authentic selves. He wants the images to eventually appear on buses and subways, exposing audiences to the realites of queer experiences in an attempt to breakdown prejudice in a form of activism that he calls “Artivism.”
Much of Arzola’s work comes from personal experience as an LGBT person growing up in Venezuela. “I had an violent adolescence because of [Venezuela’s intolerance],” he told The Huffington Post. “When I was 15-years-old they tied me to an electric pole and tried to burn me alive. I was able to escape that but I spent six years not being able to draw because they destroyed all of my drawings. After escaping that I transformed everything into lines and colors instead of returning the violence — I wanted to break the cycle.”
The Huffington Post chatted this week with Arzola about “Artivism,” his artwork and what he hopes to see accomplished through the “I’m Not A Joke” series.
Responses translated by HuffPost Latino Voices Editor Carolina Moreno.
Want to see more from Arzola and his “I’m Not A Joke” series? Head here to check out the artist’s Tumblr.
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