Never Again by Oscar Hidalgo Balarezo

Artist StatementI designed it to support the gun control movement. It was originally used for signs carried by the WeMakeAmerica collective during MarchForOurLives2018, so I painted it on a cardboard shield. Now I have turned it into a digital file that I think will work very well when printed on apparel. I like how Never Again is a phrase that keeps on evolving. It has, for a long time, been linked to Holocaust commemoration. President Barack Obama used the phrase during his speech on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2011 when he said: "We are reminded to remain ever-vigilant against the possibility of genocide and to ensure that Never Again is not just a phrase but a principled cause". Elie Wiesel wrote in 2012: "Never again’ becomes more than a slogan: It’s a prayer, a promise, a vow... never again the glorification of base, ugly, dark violence”. It was also used in protests against the Muslim ban and in support of refugees, in remembrance of Japanese internment during Wo