climate change is real

Los Angeles–based feminist artist and activist Andrea Bowers believes that everything is political. In her neon works, beauty and activism come together with vernacular signage to deliver direct statements, often involving slogans that are widely circulated.

Climate Change is Real is a project commissioned by YBCA with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies for the Global Climate Action Summit, called by Governor Jerry Brown hours after President Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement in July 2017. During his address, Brown stated: “We in California and in states all across America believe it’s time to act, it’s time to join together, and that’s why at this Climate Action Summit we’re going to get it done.”

For Bowers, creating public artworks that address crucial issues in heightened political moments is one of the most rewarding aspects of her work as an artist. She believes President Trump and his government have opted to embrace “alternative facts” and all but eliminate the role of scientists in creating environmental policy, spurning the application of science as a tool for determining objective reality. Bowers offers a powerful response to the anti-science bias exemplified by some conservative media in the United States today. As we face a coordinated effort to fracture reality and render a unified opposition impossible, the work offers an affirmative, positive statement.