Friday, December 03, 2010

Tha Artivist Wins Honorable Mention In The [choice] Life Over AIDS Exhibit


Photo By Frank D. Robinson
All For The Cause: R2C2H2 Tha Artivist Shows His Work For The Exhibit: (Left) "The Pied Piper Of HIV: The Woeful Tale Of Darnell 'Boss Man' McGee" & "My Uncle Arthur The Martyr"

Dear wonderful and fabulous [choice] LIFE OVER AIDS artists!

The [choice] LIFE OVER AIDS exhibit was a wonderful success because of YOU!  More than 200 people visited our opening reception to view the wonderful artwork and to meet you, the artists. Thanks to you who joined us and brought friends and family. Thanks to you who helped promote the event by telling your friends and fans. Our goal was to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of HIV and AIDS through artistic interpretation, and with you we achieved just that.

Congratulations to the following winners:

First Place ($500): Marcellous Lovelave
Second Place ($300): Leandra Urrutia
Honorable Mention ($100) : Ron Herd
Honorable Mention ($100): Derrick Dent

Pictures of the event will go up soon on both the website (http://mychoicelifeoveraids.org), blog (http://mychoicelifeoveraids.blogspot.com/) and facebook page (Caritas Village and
Choice:LIFE OVER AIDS.

Sincerely,
Dara Davis
Project Manager, [choice] LIFE OVER AIDS

***

 About Winning Piece:

Title: The Legends Of The Fall: “My Uncle Arthur The Martyr” & “The Pied Piper Of HIV: The Woeful Tale Of Darnell ‘Boss Man’ McGee”
Price: Not For Sale
Size: Together:  32” x 20” Separate: 16” x 20”
Medium: Mixed Media (Acrylic & Pastel)
Artist: R2C2H2 Tha Artivist (Ron Herd II)

In this artwork I wanted to show how we, as individuals and a collective, have the power of choice to transform our situation into a change for the better or for the worse.

My Uncle Arthur Martyr is a tribute to my uncle who was a victim of sexual child abuse by a predatory neighbor and who died from HIV in 2003. He lived an unusual life because he always went out of his way to show people love and I never once see him get mad at anyone for he always had an exceptional even temperament and wild sense of humor.  He really had a gift for bringing folks together and making them feel great. In the end he was a victor instead of a victim.

“The Pied Piper of HIV” is based on the true life story of Darnell ‘Boss Man’ McGee of East St. Louis who slept with over 100 women and gave at least 62 of them HIV back in the 1990s. He also had 14 children. He was diagnosed with HIV in 1992 and vowed that he will seek revenge by sleeping with as many women as he can and giving them the virus. He was very charismatic, athletic (great roller skater) and had plenty of money to lure women and girls (their ages ranged from 13-30) to their doom. He was eventually killed in a carjacking in St. Louis on Jan. 15, 1997. He was 28 years old.

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