22Action=Life_001

Action = Life

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Keith Haring was one of the most important queer artists of the 1980s. Starting as a subway station graffiti artist, he had a disarmingly simple and playful “pop art” style, and quickly became a darling of the east-coast art scene. This being the 1980s, he became heavily involved in AIDS awareness, including the direct-action group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power), whose not-at-all hyperbolic slogan was “Silence = Death”. Haring died of AIDS in 1990, and this one-page comic is an homage to him.

Another ACT UP slogan was “Action = Life”. Jay embraced that sentiment with gusto, and used to wear this t-shirt any excuse he got.