THE L.A. GAY & LESBIAN CENTER’S ADVOCATE & GOCHIS GALLERIES AND F.A.I.R. PRESENT:

FAIR: ART OF ACTION
SHEPARD FAIREY SCREENPRINTS: “LOVE UNITES”
WITH “COUNTMEOUT” CAMPAIGN & DEVIANT ART “REMIX” IMAGES
JUNE 9 – JULY 15, 2011

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries and FAIR (Freedom Action Inclusion Rights) will celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Pride and Pride Month 2011 by presenting FAIR: Art of Action — a unique exhibition of original prints of the iconic LOVE UNITES design, created by renowned artist Shepard Fairey to promote and support marriage equality.  Thanks to the donation of original screen prints by Shepard Fairey, and 30 months of curation by the grassroots activist group FAIR, over 80 prints have been personalized by more than 100 celebrity supporters of same-sex marriage.  A selection of these customized prints will be on public display from June 9 to July 15, beginning with an opening reception on Thursday, June 9 at 7 p.m.  The prints will be on sale at the opening reception and for the duration of the exhibit.  DJ Saratonin (PYT) will be DJing at the opening reception. Admission to the reception and the galleries is free.  Net proceeds from art sales benefit the full range of free and low-cost programs and services provided by the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, as well as FAIR’s continued efforts for LGBT rights.

FAIR: Art of Action will showcase just some of the many vehicles through which art can inspire social action.  Fairey himself has consistently demonstrated that an image can be worth 6 billion words.  The potent combination of social media and art is a force to be reckoned with, and this show aims to illustrate that power to inspire action through art.

The FAIR: Art of Action exhibit will include:

•    An original, one-of-a-kind fine art painting (stencil impression and mixed media collage on paper) of LOVE UNITES donated by Fairey and never before exhibited in a public gallery.
•    Original prints of Shepard Fairey’s iconic LOVE UNITES poster, customized by artists, celebrities, politicians and other notable figures including: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, Anne Hathaway, the cast of 30 Rock, Lance Bass, Natalie Portman, Jared Leto, Renée Zellweger, Wanda Sykes, Cindy Crawford, the New Kids on the Block, Kirsten Dunst, Chris Evans, Virginia Madsen, Matt Groening and a single print signed by Julia Roberts, Jessica Biel, Pierce Brosnan, Robin Wright-Penn, Bradley Cooper, Jane Fonda, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Meagan Goode and Jason Biggs.
•    A collection of digital images from the 2010 guerilla social media visibility campaign COUNTMEOUT, an effort in which individuals customized their Twitter and Facebook profile pictures with a colorized neon rainbow effect and superimposed words such as “OUT” and “ALLY.”   Centered around National Coming Out Day, the grassroots campaign garnered several thousand participants in a matter of days – creating a sense of community, encouraging bravery and unity, and fostering dialogue about homophobia, perception and acceptance.  This aspect of the exhibit will also feature an interactive experience that offers guests the opportunity to take their own personalized COUNTMEOUT photograph and add it to the graffiti wall.  Images from the campaign will also be displayed on a series of digital frames in a devoted section of the gallery.
•    Digital “remixes” of the LOVE UNITES poster, created in a contest hosted by deviantART (www.deviantart.com).  Fairey was the judge of the contest, and the work of the finalists and other entrants will be on display for the first time at this exhibit.
•    Music from DJ SARATONIN (PYT) at the opening reception.
The LOVE UNITES project began in November 2008 when FAIR reached out to Shepard Fairey, creator of the iconic Obama “Hope” image and the “Obey” street art campaign.  Shepard graciously offered to commission an image that would become the unifying symbol of the post Proposition 8 struggle – now known as “Love Unites.”  Through FAIR’s continued partnership with Shepard, FAIR had the opportunity to proliferate the image widely and utilize its powerful statement in its efforts to raise visibility and awareness for LGBT rights.  In addition to spreading the image and its positive unifying message across the globe, FAIR spent well over a year reaching out to artists, celebrities, politicians and other notable figures to add their voices to the growing roster of marriage equality supporters by customizing or signing their own print.  The project has been hugely successful to date – generating more than 60 million media impressions with over 100 celebrity participants.
While a number of prints were auctioned to raise support and awareness for marriage equality, a unique collection remains in FAIR’s possession and will be publicly displayed for the first time at Art of Action.  In addition, images of the entire collection, including works by Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Dustin Lance Black, Ellen DeGeneres & Portia De Rossi, Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Adler and Olivia Wilde, will be displayed on digital photo frames.

WHERE:    The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries
The Village at Ed Gould Plaza
1125 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood
(One block east of Highland, just north of Santa Monica Blvd. Free parking)
WHEN:     Opening reception: Thursday, June 9, 7-9 p.m.
Admission is free to the public
Exhibit runs through July 15, 2011
Gallery hours are Mon-Fri, 6-9:30 p.m. and Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

ABOUT THE L.A. GAY & LESBIAN CENTER
Since 1971 the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has been building the health, advocating for the rights and enriching the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Our wide array of services and programs includes: free HIV/AIDS care and medications for those most in need; housing, food, clothing and support for homeless LGBT youth; low-cost counseling and addiction-recovery services; essential services for LGBT-parented families and seniors; legal services; health education and HIV prevention programs; transgender services; cultural arts and much more. Visit us on the Web at: www.lagaycenter.org.

The Advocate & Gochis Galleries are the home of visual arts at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center. Since their founding in 1998, the Galleries have developed a reputation for collaborative and progressive work that reaches the GLBT community and beyond. By examining a broad range of themes that explore the relationship between art, identity and culture, the Galleries provide a unique space dedicated to showcasing inventive exhibitions and promoting the works of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender artists. Net proceeds from all Tomlin/WagnerCenter events are used to support all of the services and programs at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.

ABOUT FAIR
FAIR (www.faironline.org) was formed in the aftermath of Proposition 8 by young Los Angeles-based LGBT advocates fighting for equal rights and judicial freedom.  We focus on high impact initiatives to build bridges between communities, engage individuals who have long remained on the periphery of political action and reinvigorate seasoned activists with new ideas, energy and hope.  FAIR believes that in a highly politicized world divided by ethnic, racial, religious and cultural lines, art, social media and cultural zeitgeist are the bridges to reach beyond the mind and into the heart and soul.