Review by Booklist Review
This attractive offering serves as a primer on using graphics and visuals as forms of public communication. Author Nichols is a social- and racial-justice activist who provides considerable and helpful artistic advice through the lens of public protest. Assuming no previous knowledge, she introduces past and current protest movements, identifies the meanings behind their associated slogans and symbols, and explains why these choices make an impact. Nichols encourages readers to create their own protest art, offering practical guidance on basic components (color, font, word choice), media (sticky notes, poster board, chalk, collage, photography), and display (leaflets, signs, T-shirts, memes, guerrilla art, flash mobs, culture jamming, and projection art). Appropriately, pages are set off in dramatic blocks of color wrapped around all kinds of graphics, such as highlighted quotes, original art, and reproductions from innovative street artists, including Banksy and Keith Haring. Nichols calls herself an "artivist," and this fresh guide, which introduces a diverse array of artists and activists and offers insightful tips about art, should inspire aspiring artivists like her.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 6--10--Artivist De Nichols collaborates with four other artists to create a gorgeous tribute to art as a medium of social protest. Equal parts autobiography, instruction manual, and history book, this volume focuses on how art has been used in recent protests, including the 2014 Ferguson Uprising where De Nichols was the arts organizer on the ground. The author details the different types of art forms that can be used as a response to injustice: street art, public performance, music, photography, and poetry, among others. The book includes a time line of various moments in which art was integrated as part of a protest--from Francisco Goya in 19th-century Spain to anti-government rallies in Brazil in 2015. Scattered throughout are suggestions for young people on how they can use art to rally against oppressive forces. This heavily designed and illustrated work is striking, with a variety of art styles on display--collage, screen printing, woodcutting, painting. However, some readers might find the constant switching of media, tone, and subjects jarring. Spreads on typography and design are fascinating but impede the narrative flow of this mostly historical work. The volume concludes with an overview of youth-led movements, including the Parkland students and young climate activists. Portraits and short bios of some of these young leaders making an impact will inspire teens to make a difference themselves. VERDICT Arresting images, valuable insights and practical applications, and an empowering message make this a highly recommended purchase for art and social studies curricula and displays.--Shelley M. Diaz, School Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
"This book will encourage and equip [readers] to use art as a language and instrument that can help…champion [their] chosen cause." Beginning on a personal note, Nichols breaks down her involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement in Missouri, starting in 2014, and uses this jumping-off point to widen the scope to thoughtfully balance personal accounts of protest with a wider global perspective. In straightforward, accessible language she takes readers through the history of visual media for social change through the past and into the modern day, ending with speculation on where current trends will take protest art in the future. Appropriately packing the text with graphics from several artists displaying unique visual styles, author and artist Nichols prepares the next generation of young art activists with a comprehensive guide to the inextricable relationship between protest and art. Inspiring, pop-color illustrations highlight five youth climate activists around the world. Featuring examples of work and quotes from the likes of Ai Weiwei, Nina Simone, Diego Rivera, and Keith Haring, Nichols arms young readers with basic introductions in reading visual information--including color associations, common symbology, typography, and popular formats such as zine making, screen printing, and--escaping the two-dimensional--various protest demonstrations. Abundant contextual information pairs beautifully with encouragement to engage--safely--with protest in a variety of ways suited to civic-minded young artists. Nichols is sure to inspire an entire generation of new "artivists." (Nonfiction. 10-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
