Lexicon is of a stack of posters printed with a list of roughly 200 terms. One of Donald Trump's first executive orders in 2025 was to terminate programs, grants, and contracts related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and to bar consideration of DEI in federal government operations. Almost immediately, words associated with DEI were scrubbed from government websites and the websites of entities reliant on federal grants. Lists of "words to avoid" began to circulate. They included terms that were understood to trigger program reviews and extra scrutiny of grant applications. The terms reproduced in Lexicon are drawn from a list compiled by The New York Times. The Trump administration is trying to make these terms disappear. One way to counter that censorship is to keep them in circulation in every way we can. I want everyone who encounters Lexicon to take a poster, put it up in their home or office, and join the fight against the repression of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Andrea Fraser is an influential contemporary artist known for her pioneering work in institutional critique. Born in Billings, Montana, and based in Los Angeles, she is a professor at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Since the 1980s, Fraser has used performance, video, and text to examine the social, political, and financial structures of the art world, often blending conceptual art with feminist theory and sharp humour. Her work has been exhibited internationally at major museums and biennials, including the Venice Biennale, and she is widely recognized as one of the most important artists of her generation.