AIDS DEMOGRAPHICS<i> by Douglas Crimp and Adam Rolston (Bay Press: $12.95</i> ,<i> illustrated) </i>

The art book as political demonstration. The posters and graphic images in this anthology, including the famous “Silence=Death” logo, were created by members of ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) in New York City. The accompanying essay traces the development of the group and their movement. The posters are both visually brilliant and gut-wrenchingly angry. A scarlet handprint provides a graphic counterpoint to the words: “The government has blood on its hands: One AIDS death every half hour”; a photograph of a grinning Ronald Reagan is juxtaposed with a target and the phrase, “He kills me.” “Demographics” provides a visual counterpart to Randy Shilts’ lugubrious chronicle of the spread of the disease, “And the Band Played On.”