Atopic Dermatitis affects 15% of Brazilian population. Although it's common, the stigma involving the disease often leads patients to suffer with discrimination, isolation and even depression. A survey from the Brazilian Dermatology Society shows that almost half of the population wrongly believes the disease is contagious and a reaction to poor hygiene. And the lack of information is the reason why only 1% of people with the disease receives a correct diagnosis. Our challenge was to take the disease out of anonymity, talk about the symptoms and reach as many people as possible to raise awareness about the disease, break prejudice and help patients have a better life and reach a faster diagnosis.

Atopic Dermatitis is a disease that causes unbearable itching, lesions and wounds and it makes the skin looks less than beautiful. This gets patients to hide from the world and shut down. To reveal the drama of this concealed disease, we used the ultimate expression of idealized beauty: classic art. "Reality in The Skin of Art" was an exhibition where characters from the most famous paintings in the world received extra brush strokes to show the lesions of atopic dermatitis in their skin. An artistic intervention to these familiar works of art that made the disease impossible to look away. Each painting was inspired by the real-life accounts of patients and visitors could learn about their stories and have information on the condition by scanning a QR Code next to the works.

The strategy was to combine information about the disease with empathy towards patients. That allowed the exhibition to provide the necessary tools to end prejudice through knowledge while putting the patients at the very center of the story. Taking advantage of a venue with a large circulation of visitors, a sensitive art exhibition was the perfect choice for a public looking for leisure activities during their spare time.

The exhibition consisted of 10 paintings, from Vermeer to DaVinci. Replicas of the paintings were printed on canvas with a special ink and then we invited 4 artists to reproduce the lesions of atopic dermatitis on them, inspired by the experiences of 5 patients. The lesions were painted on the exact body spots and with the exact intensity reported by these patients. After the lesions were painted, the works were framed respecting the style of each original painting. Beside each painting, QR Codes lead to videos by the patients telling people about their experience with the symptoms, the bullying, the need to make it normal. The ten paintings were shown for a week in an exhibition in one of the most popular shopping malls in Sao Paolo. The response of the public was so positive that we decided to take the exhibition to 3 other major cities.

The exhibition gathered more than 200.000 visitors in Sao Paulo alone and the campaign reached 13 million people. After that, the exhibition went to other cities in Brazil such as Belo Horizonte, Brasília and Rio de Janeiro. And it triggered a much bigger conversation on social media, where people with atopic dermatitis could finally feel represented.