A personal loss and the rash of suicides among young gay individuals in the US has prompted the creation of a two-sided poster as the latest project by art collective 2-UP .
No More Suicides is a collaboration between Adam Shecter (who founded 2-UP last year with partner Joe Winter) and poet Matthea Harvey, who suffered the loss of a friend at their own hand.
“One side is fantasy; Matthea’s poem imagines a fox constellation that looks after kids, and I draw an imaginary mascot for a LGBT kids TV show,” says Shecter.
“The other side is reality and asks: Are You Okay? That’s all you can really do. We’re human and don’t have special powers, but we do what we can.”
For the poster launch (at 323 Dean Street, Brooklyn next Saturday, February 12), Shecter has created a “localized emergency broadcast” featuring an animated version of the “No More Suicides” fox with text crawl of Harvey’s poem. The event will be an art and school supplies drive, featuring readings by Harvey and guests. 2-UP will be collecting any unused supplies – pens, folders, paper, etc – for charitable donation.
This is 2-UP’s seventh poster; the group collects monthly dues from each member. “Central to the project is the idea that the value of art can exist independent of money and irrespective of rarity,” says Shecter.
I covered some of Shecter’s work – in which the image of a fox is a recurring and potent device – here.
To subscribe to 2-UP mail: subscriptions@twoup.org. The collective’s posters are on sale in NYC at Printed Matter Inc, PS1, and Eyebeam.