Art for Gender Justice
Welcome to the #ArtForGenderJustice campaign!
Building on our previous Recipes for Gender Justice campaign, the Courage to Act team curated a list of art from artists across the country that share our passion for gender justice. Art fuels our ability to reflect, connect, advocate and create. The artists highlighted here all envision a more inclusive, just, and representative future, free from gender-based violence and other forms of oppression. Scroll to view these engaging, celebratory and provocative pieces of art, and be inspired by the stories and the artists whose works fuel our movement for gender justice.
We’ve had so much fun curating this incredible list of artwork. We invite you to contribute to this list by sending your favourite artwork and a short artist write-up to community@couragetoact.ca.
Follow Roza on Instagram @yallaroza
We are excited to share this amazing piece by Roza Nozari, known online as YallaRoza. She describes her art as “...being rooted in my own identities and the communities I belong to --as a queer, muslim cis-woman of colour. I hope that, through art, I can illuminate the tremendous, intergenerational wisdom that lives in 2SLGBTQ+ communities of colour about trauma, healing and community.”
Check out more of their work here: @4bhardisty
This incredible artwork is by Niiwin Binesi/ Brent Hardisty. It is entitled, Girl Dreams of Flying.
Here’s the artist’s statement about their work: “From a young age I have always had a keen interest in the arts, essentially my surroundings were the beautifully painted landscapes of the creator himself. I had a great privilege to be born into an ancient culture which is slowly making its way back into mind and hearts of our beautiful Anishnaabeg people, the original inhabitants of turtle island! The arts are what define a society in my opinion and I feel truly blessed to be from such a spiritual and immersive culture as my own.”
Nous vous avons déjà parlé du magnifique travail réalisé par Les folies passagères dans le cadre de nos #VendrediVelours. Maude Bergeron, l’artiste derrière la page, crée de magnifiques et colorées illustrations visuelles qui sont à la fois queers, inclusives et féministes.
Les sujets et thématiques abordés sont nombreux et concernent notamment la santé psychologique, la diversité corporelle, le consentement et la santé sexuelle. Impossible de choisir notre œuvre préférée, mais nous aimons particulièrement l’image ci-contre !
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You might have already seen the amazing work being done by Les folies passagères through the #FollowFridays on our Facebook page. Maude Bergeron, the artist behind the artwork, creates these gorgeous, colorful, queer, feminists and inclusive visual illustrations.
The art created by Maude covers multiple subjects around gender justice: psychological health, body diversity, consent, sexual health, etc. There was no way we could choose our favorite piece, but we especially like this one around consent.
You can check out more of her work on her Instagram @beyon.wren.moor
Here is incredible artwork by Beyon Wren Moor. Beyon Wren Moor is an award-winning transgender mixed-race Indigenous multidisciplinary artist, activist, and musician. This piece is called nôtinitowin - Invasion.
Follow Jess x Snow on Instagram @jessxsnow
We are in awe of this incredible artwork by Jess X Snow. They describe themselves as a film director, artist, poet, children’s book author, and community arts educator who creates queer Asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries, and time. This piece is titled, “The Voices of Black, Indigenous, Immigrant Women and Trans People of Color Illuminate The Way to Our Future.”
Learn more about blackpowerbarbie’s work on her website: blackpowerbarbie.com
This stunning artwork is by the amazing Toronto-based artist Amika Cooper, AKA blackpowerbarbie.
This piece was created to accompany a June 2020 Refinery29 article, The Queer Black History of Rioting, by Jonathan Borg. You can read it here.
Amika has been telling stories in some format for a long time. blackpowerbarbie believes in the transformative and reflective power of storytelling, and approaches each body of work with sensitivity and reverence for her subjects. The backbone of blackpowerbarbie's work is an innate curiosity in the human condition, supported by research in the work of artists across disciplines who have come before her. Whether it is music videos, or live projections her art is motivated by a desire to create compassionate and creative representations of Black femmes and other marginalized communities, and to contribute to healthier futures for all.
Learn more about Christi Belcourt’s work on her website http://christibelcourt.com/
Christi Belcourt is a Michif (Métis) visual artist and author whose ancestry originates from the Metis historic community of Manitou Sakhigan (Lac Ste. Anne) Alberta, Canada. Christi was the lead coordinator for the exhibition, Walking With Our Sisters (WWOS), a community based commemorative project that is a memorial ceremony to honour murdered and missing Indigenous women and their families. The art installation toured over Canada and the USA from 2013 to 2019.
It included 1810 pairs of moccasin vamps (tops) plus 118 pairs of children’s vamps created and donated by hundreds of caring and concerned individuals to draw attention to this injustice. Read more about this art installation on its website.
Visit Cronin’s website to learn more: https://www.artbratcomics.com/
We absolutely adore this reimagination of “Venus” from Halifax-based cartoonist Mollie Cronin (pen name Art Brat Comics).
Cronin creates fat positive illustrations that challenge preconceptions of beauty and acceptability with her funny and celebratory representations of fat bodies.
In her feminist internet cartoons, Cronin makes jokes about tinder, living and drinking in a small town, and herself.
You can follow her on Instagram at @art.brat.comics to see all of her amazing illustrations, many of which have been turned into tattoos!
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Suggested Citation: Courage to Act. (2021, June). Art for Gender Justice. Courage to Act. www.couragetoact.ca/blog/art-for-gender-justice