{{Short description|Venezuelan artist, LGBT rights activist}} {{Infobox person | name = Daniel Arzola | image = Daniel Arzola by Andres Rodriguez.jpg | caption = Daniel Arzola in 2013. | birth_name = Daniel Alexander Arzola | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1989|05|06}} | birth_place = Maracay, Venezuela | occupation = Artist, writer | known_for = LGBT activism, digital art | notable_works = ''{{ill|No Soy Tu Chiste|es}}''<br/>''Be True To You'' }}
'''Daniel Alexander Arzola''' (born May 6, 1989, in Maracay, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan writer, visual artist, graphic designer and human rights defender. He{{efn|Arzola uses ''he/him'', ''she/her'' and ''they/them'' pronouns in English.<ref>{{Cite web |title=arzola_d |url=https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2FArzola_D%2F&is_from_rle |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref> For consistency, this article uses ''he/him''.}} is most well known for being the creator of ''{{ill|No Soy Tu Chiste|es}}'' (In English, "I Am Not Your Joke"), a series of fifty posters that became the first Venezuelan LGBT campaign to go viral globally in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boynton Health's Daniel Arzola to Present at Skoll World Forum {{!}} Boynton Health |url=https://boynton.umn.edu/news/boynton-healths-daniel-arzola-present-skoll-world-forum |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=boynton.umn.edu }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He refers to his use of artwork for activism as "Artivism."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Venezuelan Artist Arzola Strengthens LGBT Identity Through 'Artivism' |url=https://www.out.com/art-books/2016/4/07/venezuelan-artist-daniel-arzola-strengthens-lgbt-identity-through-artivism |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.out.com |language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life == Arzola was born in Maracay, Venezuela on May 6, 1989. Arzola is gay<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Boyle |first1=Brendan |title=AQ Top 5 Latin American Art Activists: Daniel Arzola |url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/fulltextarticle/aq-top-5-latin-american-art-activists-daniel-arzola/ |website=Americas Quarterly |access-date=19 May 2024 |date=25 October 2017}}</ref> and non-binary and uses ''he/him'', ''she/her'', and ''they/them'' pronouns in English.<ref>{{Cite web |title=arzola_d |url=https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2FArzola_D%2F&is_from_rle |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref>
Arzola studied graphic design at the Pascal University Institute of Technology and the Maracay drama school.
He was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at the age of 18, and has been open about his condition in his art.<ref>{{Cite tweet |last=Arzola |first=Daniel |author-link= |user=Arzola_d |number=568032872319201280 |date=18 February 2015 |title=A los 18 años fui diagnosticado con síndrome de Asperger. Eso me ayudó a ponerle nombre a muchas cosas, a entenderme mejor a mí y a otros. |script-title= |trans-title= |language=Spanish |retweet= |location= |access-date=19 May 2024 |link= |quote= |ref=}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Recinos |first=Eva |date=2018-08-19 |title='Artivist' Daniel Arzola Makes Space For LGBT Communities |url=https://medium.com/the-establishment/artivist-daniel-arzola-makes-space-for-lgbt-communities-5d51ca82d4c3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819221112/https://medium.com/the-establishment/artivist-daniel-arzola-makes-space-for-lgbt-communities-5d51ca82d4c3 |archive-date=2018-08-19 |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Medium}}</ref>
Arzola currently works at the Boynton Health's Marketing and Communication department at the University of Minnesota in the United States.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Speakers {{!}} Communicators Forum at the University of Minnesota |url=https://umcf.umn.edu/speakers |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=umcf.umn.edu}}</ref> He teaches about Artivism at universities in the United States, Chile, Argentina, and around the world.<ref name=":0" /> Due to harassment and death threats after his art received global attention, he was forced to flee Venezuela and live internationally.
== ''Efebos'' == Between 2011 and 2012, Arzola exhibited ''Efebos'', a multimedia artwork that tried to reimagine the male image through thirty portraits of men between sixteen and twenty-two years old.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arzola D |url=https://arzolad.blogspot.com/search/label/Efebos |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=arzolad.blogspot.com}}</ref> ''Efebos'' was exhibited at several different artistic spaces in the city of Maracay, including the museum of history and anthropology, where Arzola received a special mention for being the youngest person to have an individual exhibit in that space.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Arzola |first=Daniel |date=2012-06-10 |title=Arzola D: Diario el Periodiquito, Junio 06 2012 |url=https://arzolad.blogspot.com/2012/06/diario-el-periodiquito-junio-06-2012.html |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Arzola D}}</ref> ''Efebos'' is an exhibition that mixes photography with poetry, both made by Arzola.
== ''No Soy Tu Chiste'' == Arzola created ''No Soy Tu Chiste'' (In English, "I Am Not Your Joke") in 2013 as an online campaign based on his own illustrations of well-known LGBT figures and characters alongside empowering messages.<ref name=":1" /> The campaign addressed issues of abuse, mockery, and violence towards people over their differences, and specifically for reasons of gender or sexual orientation, calling for acceptance and an end to homophobia. ''No Soy Tu Chiste'' went viral around the world and had been translated from Spanish into twenty different languages.<ref name=":1" />
On January 31, 2014, Arzola received an honorary award from the Canadian embassy in Venezuela for his artistic work in support of human rights.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perdomo |first=Rafael |title=Creador de la campaña "No soy tu chiste" recibirá mención honorífica de los Derechos Humanos |trans-title=Creator of the "I'm not your joke" campaign will receive an honorable mention for Human Rights |url=http://www.corriente-alterna.net/index.php/site-map/1746-creador-de-la-campana-no-soy-tu-chiste-recibira-mencion-honorifica-de-los-derechos-humanos |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517160019/http://www.corriente-alterna.net/index.php/site-map/1746-creador-de-la-campana-no-soy-tu-chiste-recibira-mencion-honorifica-de-los-derechos-humanos |archive-date=2014-05-17 |access-date=2024-05-17 |url-status=usurped |language=es}}</ref> In March 2014, ''No Soy Tu Chiste'' partnered with the It Gets Better Project to create seven new posters in support of LGBT youth around the world, in twenty languages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the BETTERMedia Illustrations Project |url=http://www.itgetsbetter.org/content/arzola1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401131516/http://www.itgetsbetter.org/content/arzola1 |archive-date=2014-04-01 |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=It Gets Better Project Better Media}}</ref>
Five pieces from Arzola's project were selected by Katy Perry to be a part of Madonna's Art for Freedom initiative.<ref name=":2" />
Despite the international acclaim that this project brought him, Arzola faced considerable backlash and harassment within Venezuela and was forced to flee to the Netherlands.<ref name=":0" />
== Artivism == In addition to the global impact of the series ''No Soy Tu Chiste'', Arzola's work has been a symbol of social causes in Colombia and Argentina. After homophobic harassment by teachers caused the suicide of Colombian student {{ill|Sergio Urrego|es}} in 2014, Arzola spoke out again homophobia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Espectador |first=El |date=2022-07-12 |title=ELESPECTADOR.COM |url=https://www.elespectador.com/el-magazin-cultural/no-soy-tu-chiste-y-su-reflexion-alrededor-de-la-comunidad-lgtbiq/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=ELESPECTADOR.COM |language=spanish}}</ref> He paid tribute to Sergio Urrego by illustrating a portrait of him alongside the phrase, "Ignoring abuse makes us violent."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Fundación Sergio Urrego |url=https://www.sergiourrego.org/noticia/no-soy-tu-chiste/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.sergiourrego.org}}</ref> Days before his suicide, Urrego had shared a poster from ''No Soy Tu Chiste'' on his Facebook profile, which featured the quote, "My sexuality is not a sin, it is my own paradise."<ref name=":3" /> Both works became symbols of the fight against homophobia in Colombia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Espectador |first=El |date=2022-08-03 |title=ELESPECTADOR.COM |url=https://www.elespectador.com/el-magazin-cultural/daniel-arzola-no-soy-tu-chiste-cambio-mi-vida-y-la-salvo/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=ELESPECTADOR.COM |language=spanish}}</ref>
In Argentina, in July 2016, a bill was presented to rename a recent subway station in Buenos Aires after renowned LGBT activist Carlos Jáuregui. To support the cause, Arzola illustrated a portrait of Jáuregui to promote the campaign.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2016-08-12 |title=Un homenaje a la lucha por los derechos LGBTI toma el metro de Buenos Aires |trans-title=A tribute to the fight for LGBTI rights takes over the Buenos Aires metro |url=https://es.globalvoices.org/2016/08/12/un-homenaje-a-la-lucha-por-los-derechos-lgbti-toma-el-metro-de-buenos-aires/ |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Global Voices en Español |language=es}}</ref> It gained much attention from the public in Argentina and various public figures, including the Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-08-19 |title=Jáuregui Station |url=https://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/soy/1-4706-2016-08-19.html |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=www.pagina12.com.ar |language=es}}</ref> On March 20, 2017, Arzola exhibited a fourteen-meter mural at newly named Carlos Jáuregui station, including a portrait of the pride flag on the stairs to the station and six illustrations on the balconies.<ref name=":4" /> This was Arzola's first permanent exhibition.
== Awards and nominations ==
* Youngest person to exhibit in the museum facilities. Museum of history and anthropology of Maracay. – 2012<ref name=":1" /> * Honorable Mention Human Rights Award from the Canadian Embassy. – 2013.<ref name=":0" /> * Madonna's Art For Freedom Official Selection . – 2013–2014.<ref name=":0" /> * 7 talented young Venezuelans. Tendencia Magazine, 2014. * Winner of the United Nations Population Fund Super Youth contest, 2014. * Representative of Latin America at Amsterdam Pride Event. Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 2014. * Winner of the short essay contest of the United States Embassy in Venezuela, 2014. * LGBT activism award, Affirmative Union 2015. * Winner of the Human Rights Award at the International Queer and Migrant Film Festival in Amsterdam 2016. * Winner of Logo Trailblazers Honors from Logo (television channel)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Daniel Arzola, Senior Graphic Designer {{!}} Boynton Health |url=https://boynton.umn.edu/directory/daniel-arzola-senior-graphic-designer |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=boynton.umn.edu}}</ref>
== Notes == <references group="lower-alpha" /> == References == <references />
== External links ==
* [https://www.danielarzola.com/ Daniel Arzola Personal Website] * [https://www.facebook.com/nosoytuchiste/ Fan Facebook Page of <nowiki>''No Soy Tu Chiste''</nowiki>]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arzola, Daniel}} Category:1989 births Category:21st-century Venezuelan artists Category:21st-century Venezuelan writers Category:Autistic artists Category:Gay artists Category:LGBTQ writers with disabilities Category:Living people Category:Non-binary activists Category:Non-binary artists Category:Non-binary gay people Category:Non-binary writers Category:People from Maracay Category:People with Asperger syndrome Category:Venezuelan gay writers Category:Venezuelan LGBTQ artists Category:Venezuelan LGBTQ rights activists Category:Venezuelan non-binary people Category:Venezuelan autistic people Category:Autistic writers Category:Autistic LGBTQ people