All’s fair in Art and Politics

There is only one way to avoid criticism:
DO NOTHING, SAY NOTHING, BE NOTHING.
Aristotle
With the 2020 Democratic primaries getting ready to kick off, we thought a trip down memory lane was in order. Afterall, it goes without saying that 2016’s Presidential election was one for the record books. From the east coast to the west, and everything in between, the country was divided in ways not seen since the Civil War. Social media was awash with calls for friends and family to ‘unfriend’ themselves, the spreading of fear and hatred. Sadly, we’ve been unable to heal those rifts, and if anything, they’ve grown deeper and more entrenched.
This election season and those past remind me that history is a living and breathing thing, it judges us for our actions or lack thereof and provides a compass in times of uncertainty. I believe it is through our understanding of culture and art that we see not only where we have come from, but what we are capable of being.
The works below represent snapshots in time, moments for future generations to explore and judge us by. They highlight the fervor of supporters, as well as the divisiveness that remains pervasive in our society.

David Horsey, Top of the Ticket, Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2016

Rick McKee, The Adventures of Bernie Sanders, Augusta Chronicle, April 19, 2019

Steve Sack, When Joe Biden Speaks, StarTribune, August 14, 2019

Théodore Géricault, Raft of the Medusa, Museo del Louvre, 1818-19

Diego Rivera, Exploitation of Mexico by Spanish Conquistadors, Palacio Nacional de Mexico, 1929-1945

Jacques-Louis David, Death of Marat, Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, 1793

Yu Youhan, ‘Untitled (Mao Marilyn)’, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 2005

Goya, The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid or “The Executions”, Museo Nacional del Prado, 1814

Paul Revere, The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street, Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regiment, Massachusetts Historical Society, 1770

Felix Nussbaum, In the camp, German Historical Museum Berlin, 1940

Glenn McCoy, Based on The Problem We All Live With, TalkingPointsMemo, February 15, 2016

Do Ho Suh, Karma, Art21, 2003

Wang Guangyi, Coca Cola (Great Criticism Series), Tate, 1994

Rick McKee, Drones vs Torture, Augusta Chronicle, December 10, 2014
