Since the rise of Donald Trump as presidential candidate, contemporary artists have been producing art surrounding the controversial politician. Most of them seem to be making a statement against his views and potential presidency.
However, are these artistic protests not adding to the popularity of Trump?
According to Dutch artist Jonas Staal all art is entangled with everyday life, and thus with politics. He himself anonymously made roadside monuments for Dutch politician Geert Wilders a few years ago. The politician might be compared in some ways to Donald Trump, with the strange haircut and views on immigrants and muslims.
Staal's monuments were seen as a threat by Wilders, who reported this art project to the police. The artist claimed the project and was prosecuted for threatening a politician, but in the meantime some saw the work as a way of showing support towards Wilders as well. In some way the monuments added meaning to the image of Wilders as an icon or a marter almost.
However, are these artistic protests not adding to the popularity of Trump?
According to Dutch artist Jonas Staal all art is entangled with everyday life, and thus with politics. He himself anonymously made roadside monuments for Dutch politician Geert Wilders a few years ago. The politician might be compared in some ways to Donald Trump, with the strange haircut and views on immigrants and muslims.
Staal's monuments were seen as a threat by Wilders, who reported this art project to the police. The artist claimed the project and was prosecuted for threatening a politician, but in the meantime some saw the work as a way of showing support towards Wilders as well. In some way the monuments added meaning to the image of Wilders as an icon or a marter almost.
Wilders' popularity rose significantly after getting attention from the media through the controversy surrounding this art project. Artist Jonas Staal takes full responsibility for this correlation between art and politics, even if the result was unintended.
Propaganda appears to be avoided and the arts are supposed to be free from politics ever since the Fall of the Third Reich in which a failed artist managed to visually express politics successfully through propganda art.
Instead, art is supposed to mirror society and show us the truth by making us question it, without having written rules governed by politicians or other authorities that might try and add their own ideologies. The artist is again seen as a creative genius whose visions are supposed to change society.
Nevertheless, in this case, the art created by artists that was supposed to make us question politics might be adding to the popularity of something most of these artists are actually trying to defy. The visual arts might no longer be controlled by the state completely, but by mirroring current society they still provoke political meaning and might even promote certain ideologies.
The part that worries me is the amount of visual art dedicated to ridicule Donald Trump. Most artists being left-wing democrats use his image to protest his ideologies. But if we have learned anything from Jonas Staal and his project, their efforts might be contradicting their artistic intentions.
Propaganda appears to be avoided and the arts are supposed to be free from politics ever since the Fall of the Third Reich in which a failed artist managed to visually express politics successfully through propganda art.
Instead, art is supposed to mirror society and show us the truth by making us question it, without having written rules governed by politicians or other authorities that might try and add their own ideologies. The artist is again seen as a creative genius whose visions are supposed to change society.
Nevertheless, in this case, the art created by artists that was supposed to make us question politics might be adding to the popularity of something most of these artists are actually trying to defy. The visual arts might no longer be controlled by the state completely, but by mirroring current society they still provoke political meaning and might even promote certain ideologies.
The part that worries me is the amount of visual art dedicated to ridicule Donald Trump. Most artists being left-wing democrats use his image to protest his ideologies. But if we have learned anything from Jonas Staal and his project, their efforts might be contradicting their artistic intentions.
For instance, the works by artist collective t.Rutt, like the wall they started building that resembles the infamous wall Trumps would build to prevent Mexican immigrants from coming to the U.S.A. The site-specific wall holds a collage of products that features the import and export between the countries in goods as well as services that would be influenced in case the actual wall was to be built. The project was built on land given by a Republican land owner, who is likely to vote for Trump, but is willing to keep this artwork there. This example goes to show how the artistic critique within this work apparently is not picked up by the target audience that was intended to question their own political visions and intentions.
Another instance of Anti-Trump art that might send unintended signals is Deborah Kass' painting portraying Donald Trump but ordering to vote for Hillary Clinton, simply titled Vote Hillary. Referring to Andy Warhols 1974 Vote McGovern, where the title was placed under a Richard Nixon portrait, Kass shows critique both on political events as well as on a male-dominated Art-History.
Another instance of Anti-Trump art that might send unintended signals is Deborah Kass' painting portraying Donald Trump but ordering to vote for Hillary Clinton, simply titled Vote Hillary. Referring to Andy Warhols 1974 Vote McGovern, where the title was placed under a Richard Nixon portrait, Kass shows critique both on political events as well as on a male-dominated Art-History.
While these artistic commentaries on American society and politics are valid options to express ones disgust or show some of the consequenses of political choices, they don't appear to offer a solution to the problem depicted. In this sense they add to the mass media coverage of the subjects despised, rather than adding support towards the opposite cause. For there is no such thing as bad media, art to protest a subject might actually increase its popularity and become unintentionally propagandist by spreading the image of politicians, making them into an icon rather than a threat.