Weekly Shot of Art - Seeing Red

I guess this is both a review and a preview..."Seeing Red" is a combination Art Exhibit, Silent Auction and Gala Event put on by the Lower Mainland Red Cross to promote awareness about HIV/AIDS.

40 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide and it is easy to get lost in those numbers, to become overwhlemed and then apathetic, so kudos to these artists who are bringing the issue front and centre. I saw some of the art submissions at Delany's Coffee House on Denman (1105 Denman St) this past weekend, and aside from having the thematically binding bit of red colour in them*, they are striking. One in particular had a photograph of a small African boy overlaid with binary code representing the numerous AIDS deaths in the area. Something about the numbers being big and powerful and crowding out the child was very effective and made me want to take it home. I'm sad to say that I wouldn't do very well with that kind of art in my house, however, so it is still up for grabs at the silent auction! Details after the jump.

*I am assuming that part of the entrance requirements was that the image must contain some red, but what happened is that most of the images are mostly red (or at least the ones I saw were). This makes the show as a whole catch your eye, but it doesn't make any one painting stand out from the rest.

The Gala event is Friday, May 26th, 6:30 PM, at the Soctiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie St). For tickets call 604-709-6651 or email seeingred@redcross.ca. All proceeds will go to the Red Cross HIV/AIDS Care Project in Zimbabwe.

More about the Seeing Red Campaign:
Zimbabwe is currently facing a critical shortage of anti-retroviral drugs, the drugs that prolong the lives of persons infected with HIV. Within 3 months all government-funded distribution of the drugs is expected to cease completely leaving millions of Zimbabweans without support. The Canadian Red Cross in the Lower Mainland is excited to launch a new campaign called Seeing Red, which aims to raise awareness in the community about the causes, consequences, and humanitarian injustices of HIV/AIDS, here at home and around the globe. The Seeing Red campaign is being spearheaded by the Red Cross' Raising Awareness and Global Empowerment (RA+GE) working group.

More about the Art Exhibit, Silent Auction and Gala.

Image is "Red Wish" by Brent MacKay