On January 20, 2021, we were proud to commemorate the inauguration of President Biden with the opening of our current exhibition Transition of Power: 2021. At 13FOREST Gallery we consider it an important part of our practice to document artistic responses to the American political system, and have hosted a Transition of Power exhibition for each new president in the past thirteen years. For this exhibition, we put out an open call for artwork, and the artists featured in Transition of Power: 2021 portray a broad range of responses to the Trump administration, from humor and anger to hope for the future under our new President. You can read their statements about the work included in Transition of Power: 2021 below.
Scott Bakal, Dim Stars: Transition of Power, acrylic, graphite and ink on panel
The United States has endured the last four years of a completely detached administration.
A little over twelve years ago, we saw the intersection of multiple issues that culminated in our current political situation, including the spread of misinformation by Fox News and social media and the rise of the Tea Party and its harmful ideology.
The country has turned to extremes and this election seems to have put conservatives and liberals on call that extremism needs to stop. Clearly, extremism in government and for that matter, in society, does not work. We have seen similar extremes play out in Russia, China, Cuba and other countries over the last century.
The last 12 years of extremism is too much to put into one painting to illustrate this potential turning point in America’s history. This painting is a simple statement of the potential successes we have in front of us coming out of the confusion and pollution of the fabric of our society that we have all endured.
Resa Blatman
I was inspired to make this painting during the ravaging Australian wildfires in 2020, and while my own emotions were in turmoil over the steady dismantling of our democracy. The last four years have weighed heavily on me and my community of friends and loved ones, and I am grateful for the transition of power on January 20th. However, as I write this, there are still many political unknowns and fears. Nevertheless, I remain hopeful for a renewed America that embraces its vast differences and beauty, and the capacity to save its democracy. Blaze reveals the paradox of an unfolding environmental and societal tragedy mixed with an underlying allure because beauty and regeneration reside even in the darkest expressions of humanity and nature.
Resa Blatman, Blaze, oil, acrylic and colored pencil on Mylar
Jean Marie Cummiskey, Divided States of Insanity, mosaic with zipper
Jean Marie Cummiskey
As a child, I was always interested in flags and the countries they represented. In college as a double major in studio art and political science, I studied the governments and politics of these same countries with an eye toward a career as a political cartoonist. My preferred mediums have evolved over the years from woodcuts, pen and ink, and cartoons to photography and mosaics today. My preferred subjects continue to include politics, nature, and cities and their people. This piece presents my perception of the current state of American politics with the tear in the flag representing the divisions. However, I am hopeful that the divisions may be bridged, symbolized by the zipper inserted in the tear.
Gary Duehr
What are the faces of modern American politics?
Come election year, the fans follow one candidate or another, true believers with a dose of fanaticism. They pump the air, they chant "USA USA!," they grab selfies with their leader, they wave flags and stomp the floor and bellow through bullhorns.
Based on news photos of the crowds at campaign events, these images use models to recreate the fans' behavior, isolating it under bright studio lights. Here, one or two at a time, we can examine their gestures as a social psychologist might.
We can survey their colorful getups, look them in the eye for a trace of craziness, and feel their mixture of exhilaration and earnestness. Their enthusiasm is contagious, and a little bit frightening.
Gary Duehr, Arena: Captain America, pigment print
Otentou Sama (おてんとうさま) is a charm which hangs above your door. It watches you everywhere, your every move, and gives you punishment and reward for your behavior.
The charms stem from Japanese folklore; they are a symbol made out of desperation, hoping there is a higher power holding people accountable.
Caitlin Duennebier, Otentou Sama, air dry clay, acrylic
Eben Haines, Monuments, graphite, acrylic, beeswax, plaster, wood
The argument for preserving Confederate statues often comes down to the preservation of history, and the preservation of beauty. Of course, these monuments personify neither of these tenets, as images of propaganda cannot claim to be made in the name of historical fact or aesthetic improvement. Propagandistic imagery is created to divide and conquer, to grow power, and to duly convince those searching for easy answers. Hatred is not beautiful. These monuments were erected cheaply and distributed widely, made to celebrate the seditious men who fought and died for the right to own other people.
Under the Trump administration, the preservation of these statues has served as a beacon for his base, the same white nationalists who carried Confederate flags into the Capitol Building during an armed insurrection, at the behest of a sitting president. These statues are an excuse to preserve a vile ideology, dating back to the country's founding, and perpetuated by violence. One cannot expect justice in a country where the advocates of human bondage stand proudly before courthouses and schools across the nation, stoic reminders of the men who fought to "Keep America Great."
I remember the “Satanic Panic” of the 80s, when it was a popular belief that shadowy Satanic cabals were sacrificing babies and furthering a corrosive, anti-Christian agenda via heavy metal music, Dungeons and Dragons, cartoons, and anything counterculture. I thought we were beyond that now, but here we are: it is 2021 and we have elected officials that believe in a “Deep State” of Democratic lawmakers that worship Satan and eat children. A worldwide pandemic is simply a “hoax,” and our recent (and unequivocally legitimate) election was “stolen” by said "Deep State.” How does a deeply unstable America move forward when conspiracy theories and social media misinformation divide us over everything from climate change to an increasingly deadly pandemic?
Joe Keinberger, …and it came to pass that the lullaby of conspiracy became anthem, acrylic, acrylic ink, pen, pencil on wood
Patt Kelley, Trump 2020, digital illustration
It’s been a loooong four years. Before the election I made a satirical campaign poster. I wanted to highlight some of the accomplishments of the Trump administration.
Ted Ollier
It has been said that everything Trump touches dies. Now the task of removing the stain of his pernicious regime from our fractured country falls not only on a new administration, but on everyone left who actually believes our national motto, "E Pluribus Unum."
Good luck, everyone.
Ted Ollier, Good Luck, cardboard, laminated paper, acrylic
Ellen Shattuck Pierce, Scylla Retold, linoleum print
Ellen Shattuck Pierce
I am ecstatic to have the power of our democracy in the hands of a woman at long last. I am excited that our Vice President is the first Black woman and the first South Asian woman to hold the office. I am excited that progressive women of color Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib will join her on the Hill. Over the past four years, these women, along with Elizabeth Warren and Hilary Clinton have suffered derision in the form of misogyny and racism. Therefore, it is satisfying to depict them as the six-headed, twelve-legged legendary Greek monster Scylla, who lives in a sea cave and tears the heads off and consumes all fisherman who sail past. These women have stood up for themselves and for us, defending our democratic ideals with fierceness and intelligence. Bring on the transition of power!
Adrienne Sloane, Hope Takes Flight, stiffened and stretched knit cotton, five panels
Adrienne Sloane
Much of my work is a response to the news. As a sculptural knitter, I have often looked for new ways to work creatively in my medium. Stretching and stiffening knit in this piece gave me a stable platform on which to work.
Hope Takes Flight plays visually with the traditional colors of party affiliations while embodying the hope that the upcoming transfer of power between them goes well.
Naoe Suzuki, We still want to believe (triptych), three letterpress prints
Naoe Suzuki
This triptych was the last thing I created before the pandemic started last year. But it was the summer of 2019 when I had the phrase “we still want to believe” in my head and could not let it go. It was the time before the COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movements. It seems long ago, but we were already living in the thicket of growing fake news. In the time of post-truth during the Trump administration, truth was more fragile than ever. Belief in science was not only challenged but shattered by the Trump administration regarding climate change and protecting the natural environment.
The United States has suffered greatly in combating the coronavirus due to this lack of belief in science. In the last two months after the Presidential election, beliefs, whether based on evidence and facts or merely by convictions and feelings, moved people to the point of extremism and violence.
At this critical inflection point in United States history regarding the transition of power, this work brings complex nuances and readings about our beliefs into the present moment. I wanted to explore multiple narratives and interpretations by displaying the triptych in different configurations.
Joe Taveras
Perched in between a red and blue background, the subject reflects the chaos that has led up to this historic election. As the title suggests, this painting was created the night before Election Day 2020 in response to and because of growing political tension.
Joe Taveras, Night Before "Election", acrylic and oil on canvas