“Artists are very useful for these times”
Story by Sherry Mazzocchi
Donald West by Sashalynillo
The evening before Trump took office, artists unveiled a complex response to his election.
Conceived and curated by Washington Heights artist Andrea Arroyo, “Unnatural Election: Artists Respond to the 2016 Presidential Election,” is a broad reaction to what many considered unthinkable—Donald Trump winning the nation’s highest office.
Just days after the election, Arroyo asked other artists for their response. It was immediate and overwhelming. She got drawings, sketches and images of other fully conceived ideas. As word spread, art poured in from all over the world, mostly from people she’d never met.
So far, she’s received more than 250 works, from about 200 artists. “I’m getting more work every day,” she said.
Each submission is printed in color on 8-1/2 by 11 white paper, giving the responses an eerie uniformity. But the works, on view at NYU’s Kimmel Galleries, range in emotional complexity from rage to sad resignation. There are humorous pieces as too. But it is clear that most of artists who submitted their work don’t appreciate the new president’s form of populism.
Read more: Unnatural Election: Artists Respond to the 2016 Presidential Election | Manhattan Times
Nasty Woman by R.Sikoryak
Toy Fascist by Steve Brodner
“Unnatural Election: Artists Respond to the 2016 Presidential Election” is on view at New York University’s Kimmel Galleries, 8th Floor, at 60 Washington Square South until the end of the spring semester. For more information, please visit www.Unnaturalelection.com.
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