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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2008Kristin Guiter, Manager of Media Relations(202) 639-1867, kguiter@corcoran.org
ACCESS TO LIFE
EXHIBITIONOPENS AT THE CORCORAN GALLERY OF ARTJune 14–July 20, 2008
Jonas Bendiksen, Jim Goldberg, Alex Majoli, Steve McCurry, Paolo Pellegrin, Gilles Peress, Eli Reed,and Larry Towell Chronicle Effects of Antiretrovirals on HIV/AIDS Patients Around the World
WASHINGTON, D.C.
—
Magnum Photos
and the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis andMalaria
have teamed up in a historic partnership to chronicle the revolutionary effect free antiretroviraltreatment is having on AIDS patients across the world. The resulting photo exhibition will open at the
Corcoran Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C.
on
June 14
as the museum’s newest special exhibition,
Access to Life.
Employing the talents of eight photographers to portray the quiet revolution now takingplace in the fight against AIDS,
Access to Life
will be on view through
July 20, 2008
.The AIDS pandemic is the greatest public health challenge the world has ever faced, with a particularlydevastating impact in many parts of the world where access to even basic health care is limited. Throughcarefully-monitored grants, the Global Fund supports treatment for millions of AIDS patients, all of whom would face certain death if antiretroviral drugs were not made available for free.In 2007, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria initiated a joint project with MagnumPhotos to graphically document the positive impact that free antiretroviral drug treatment is having on thelives of millions of AIDS patients around the world. The photographic cooperative Magnum Photos sentan international team of eight noted photographers to nine countries to document the transformativeeffects of treatment on more than 30 individuals and their families.The photographic team included Americans
Jim Goldberg, Eli Reed,
and
Steve McCurry
; Canadian
Larry Towell
, Norwegian
Jonas Bendiksen
; Italians
Paolo Pellegrin
and
Alex Majoli
; and Frenchman
Gilles Peress
. In India, Haiti, Mali, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Vietnam, thephotographers created visual chronicles that encompassed their subjects’ lives both before and after drugtreatments.
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Access To Life/ page two
Therefore
, Access to Life
is the artistic and educational response to the lifesaving success of the GlobalFund’s work around the world.The resulting exhibition, curated by Bill Horrigan, Director of Media Arts at the Wexner Center for theArts, Ohio State University, is a powerful document of the strong spirit of each patient, of the life-changing impact of the drugs and of the crucial benefit of international funding.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Bill Horrigan has been Director of the Wexner Center's Media Arts program since 1989. Horrigan hascurated moving image-based gallery exhibitions with such artists as Chris Marker, Johan van der Keuken,Shirin Neshat, Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon, Bruce and Norman Yonemoto, Julia Scher, WilliamKentridge and Phil Collins. He has published essays on artists Yvonne Rainer, William Jones, SadieBenning, Mark Dion, Steve Fagin, Gregg Bordowitz, Kutlug Ataman, Tom Kalin, Neil Jordan, andRoman Signer, among others, and co-curated (with John Greyson) the Video Data Bank's 1989 VideoAgainst AIDS project. He previously worked at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, and WalkerArt Center in Minneapolis, and received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
After closing at the Corcoran in July, the exhibition will travel during 2008 and 2009. A book will belaunched to coincide with the European opening. The exhibition comprises photography, video, andephemera to create an intimate picture of AIDS and its treatment. Admission to
Access to Life
is $6 foradults; children six and under enter the exhibition free of charge.
PRESS PREVIEW
A press preview for
Access to Life
will be held on
Wednesday, June 11
at
10 a.m.
at the CorcoranGallery of Art, 500 Seventeenth St., NW. RSVP by June 9 to Kristin Guiter, Manager of MediaRelations, (202) 639-1867,kguiter@corcoran.org.
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Access To Life/page three
ABOUT MAGNUM PHOTOS
Magnum Photos is a photographic co-operative of great distinction owned by its photographer-members.Acclaimed for their powerful individual vision, Magnum photographers chronicle the world and interpretits people, events, issues, and personalities with empathy for their subjects.Founded at the Museum of Modern Art upon the close of World War II (1947) by legendaryphotographers Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, and David “Chim” Seymour,Magnum Photos celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2007. Today, the agency encompasses more than 70photographers of extraordinary talent and diversity and reflects a long-standing tradition of individualvision. Through its four editorial offices in New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo; a digital library of 450,000 images; and a network of 15 sub-agents, Magnum Photos provides photographs to the press,publishers, advertising, galleries, and museums across the world.By capturing defining moments of the 20th century with iconic images that have shaped our collectivememory, Magnum Photos continues to set a standard for photographic integrity and authorship. For moreinformation about Magnum Photos, please visitwww.magnumphotos.com
ABOUT THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is supporting lifesaving treatment with ARVsfor more than 1.4 million people worldwide. The Global Fund is a unique global public/privatepartnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis, and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector, andaffected communities was founded just over six years ago and represents a new approach to internationalhealth financing. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateralorganizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases. Apart from a high standardof technical quality, the Global Fund attaches no conditions to any of its grants. It is not an implementingagency, instead relying on local ownership and planning to ensure that new resources are directed toprograms on the frontline of this global effort to reach those most in need. Its performance-basedapproach to grant-making is designed to ensure that funds are used efficiently and create real change forpeople and communities. All programs are monitored by independent organizations contracted by theGlobal Fund to ensure that its funding has an impact in the fight against these three pandemics. For moreinformation about the Global Fund, please visitwww.theglobalfund.org.
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