LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2018 Pop-up Exhibition

Opening Reception: February 1, 6:30-8:30PM, Second Floor Gallery

Reflections from HIV+ women at 7:00PM

Pop-up exhibition on view February 1–4, 2018

The LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN Valentine Pop-up Exhibition was a display of hundreds of handmade paper valentines made by artists and friends that were mailed to self-identifying women living with HIV internationally for Valentine’s Day.

For LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2018, artists, activists and HIV+ women came together at Dieu Donné’s paper making studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to create hundreds of unique handmade paper valentines that were mailed to women living with HIV around the world. On January 24 and 25, 2018, Visual AIDS, the Fire Island Artist Residency, Dieu Donné and the International Community of Women Living With HIV (ICW) hosted four papermaking valentine workshops to show their love and support for women living with HIV internationally.

The LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN Valentine Pop-up Exhibition at Abrons Art Center displayed a selection of the valentines, and directly after the exhibition, these artworks were mailed to women internationally to arrive in time for Valentine’s Day. The Opening Reception on February 1 included reflections on the importance of love and community building from Visual AIDS Artist+ Members and others from the Positive Women's Network (PWN-USA), Iris House, She's So VOCAL (Voices of Community Activists & Leaders) and ICW.

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN is an ongoing project established by Visual AIDS artist member Jessica Whitbread in 2013. “Why not do something nice for the women most forgotten about?” says Whitbread. "I started LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN in 2013 as a way to rally women living with HIV to celebrate themselves as well as be celebrated by friends, lovers, children and loving souls. LPW runs annually from February 1–14, so we continue to not be forgotten and loved continuously. I look forward to watching my friends and community not only shower others with acts of kindness but also be showered as well."

About Love Positive Women and participating organizations:

LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN: Romance Starts at Home! is an ongoing project established by Visual AIDS artist member Jessica Whitbread in 2013. Using Valentine's Day as a backdrop, LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN creates a platform for individuals and communities to engage in public and private acts of love and caring for women living with HIV. Working from a place of strength, LPW focuses on the idea of interconnectedness, relationship building, loving oneself and loving ones community.

Dieu Donné is the world's leading cultural institution dedicated to serving artists through the collaborative creation of cutting-edge contemporary art using the process of hand papermaking.

The International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) is the only global network by and for women living with HIV. ICW exists to lead efforts towards securing and improving the quality of life for women living with HIV by mobilizing, organizing, advocating, mentoring, and raising consciousness on the issues that directly impact lives.

The Fire Island Artist Residency (FIAR) is an organization founded in 2011 which brings lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer identifying emerging artists to Fire Island, a place long-steeped in LGBTQ history, to create, commune, and contribute to the location's rich artistic history. FIAR provides free live/work space to five selected artist residents who work, research, relax, and immerse themselves in the Fire Island community, during which time they are visited by a handful of renowned visiting artists, curators, and art professionals who commune with residents through intimate visits, dinners, and discussions, providing support and feedback.

Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS IS NOT OVER. Visual AIDS is the only contemporary arts organization fully committed to HIV prevention and AIDS awareness through producing and presenting visual art projects, while assisting artists living with HIV/AIDS. We are committed to preserving and honoring the work of artists with HIV/AIDS and the artistic contributions of the AIDS movement.

Abrons Arts Center is a home for contemporary interdisciplinary arts in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. A core program of the Henry Street Settlement, Abrons believes that access to the arts is essential to a free and healthy society. Through performance presentations, exhibitions, education programs and residencies, Abrons mobilizes communities with the transformative power of art.