Every day it’s in the news. Overdose deaths on the rise, says CDC. Opioid makers paid millions to advocacy groups. And while lawmakers make veiled campaign rally promises to change the tide of citizens lost to drugs, the stigma of addiction means that here on the ground, we’re not doing enough.

The Alvarez Gallery proudly presented in 2018 a group show that aimed to do more. Opioid: Express Yourself Redux reflex on the platform we gave Artists to confront the culprits of this epidemic. The gallery gave them the freedom to use our space as they choose and encouraged them to use the same freedom one of its artists, Arturo Di Modica, has employed in the past in making his sculptures public. This is an important platform of expression for each artist to send a message about the opioid epidemic, how it has affected them personally, professionally and as a community.

Part protest art, part individual activism, this artist-led exhibition sought to strike change in ways similar to the social movements spreading across the country. From abstract representations to deeply personal stories, the artists of Opioid: Express Yourself navigated their own histories and how the epidemic affected their lives.