DETROIT, MICHIGAN – College for Creative Studies is the next stop for Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985-2010”, a major exhibition traveling through across the United States and running March 12-31, 2012 at College for Creative Studies, Valade Family Gallery.  For additional information, please visit GraphicIntervention.org.

Graphic Intervention is drawn largely from the collection of Jim Lapides, founder of International Poster Gallery in Boston, and was organized by Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt).  Lapides has spent the last decade amassing a collection of over 3,000 HIV/AIDS posters from more than 80 countries.  In addition to a large collection of HIV/AIDS posters, International Poster Gallery also offers thousands of original vintage posters from all periods and genres, many of which are available to browse on their website, www.InternationalPoster.com.

Graphic Intervention curators Elizabeth Resnick, professor and chair, Graphic Design at MassArt, and Javier Cortés, partner and creative director at Korn Design in Boston and New York, narrowed the exhibition to 153 examples from 44 countries, each poster carefully navigating socially complex themes presenting a myriad of visual solutions to a public health crisis.  

The exhibition at College of Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan draws from an extensive archive of arresting and fearless international public health announcements.  The show presents a comprehensive overview of the diverse visual strategies employed by government agencies, community activists, grassroots organizations, and motivated citizens to educate the local population.  

From countries ranging from Papua New Guinea to Denmark, the posters demonstrate the different approaches used for discussion of a socially complex subject.  The messages in Graphic Intervention (http://graphicintervention.org/) deftly champion pertinent sociopolitical issues—disease research and eradication, world health, international relations, sexual education, social prejudices and discrimination—in a remarkable way.  

“We’re thrilled to see this powerful exhibition touring the country,” comments Jim Lapides, owner of International Poster Gallery.  “In addition to their resonant public health messages, these posters are a way of remembering those who have died due to AIDS – a graphic quilt of a different kind.”

Graphic Intervention: 25 Years of International AIDS Awareness Posters 1985-2010 has previously shown at MassArt in Boston, the Art Director’s Club in New York City and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and York College of Pennsylvania.  The exhibition will travel next to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where it will be on view February 1-22, 2012.

College for Creative Studies exhibition details:

¥ Additional information on Graphic Intervention, including a schedule of upcoming engagements, is available at GraphicIntervention.org

¥ Interview are available with Jim Lapides of International Poster Gallery