Through his work, the artist does not advocate for any candidate or political party. Most definitely, the artist does advocate that eligible voters should vote by any means legally available, and not become so apathetic or discouraged as to forfeit their opportunity to make a difference. In as non-partisan a manner as the artist can, he presents issues, expresses anxieties, provides observations, and may occasionally offer what he believes to be a constructive idea. In addition to encouraging thought, discussion and debate through his works, the artist encourages each voter to research facts from multiple sources instead of relying on the flood of self-serving, one-sided misleading propaganda, and make your decisions as you see fit.
For the November 2020 U.S. national election, the artist created and submitted seven prospective posters into competition for the “Good Trouble / U Decide” exhibition in Washington DC. The exhibition was co-sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Political Art (www.politicsartus.org) and Millennium Arts Salon (www.millenniumartssalon.org). The exhibition has honored the legacy of John Lewis and encouraged people to vote, whichever way they may choose, on or by November 3, 2020.
Though the competition was heavy and none of the artist’s posters were selected out of the hundreds that were submitted, life will go on, as will art. Here are three posters that were temporarily planted in the artist’s front yard, similar to a few of the entries submitted to the competition. Please, vote whenever you have the opportunity!
Artist’s Update: Here we are, four years later, with yet another upcoming election. In looking at my posters from four years ago, I think the polarizations are still the same. How convenient! I can just update the election date and reprint the posters! But seriously, folks … oh, wait, I am being serious. The only thing different artistically is something called “The Stars or The Jungle” … and that is my showpiece for 2024.
In case you don’t recognize the reference, in the third movie of the The Creature from the Black Lagoon trilogy, “The Creature Walks Among Us” (1956), the movie is summed up by the quote “ … we all stand between the jungle and the stars, at a crossroads. I think we better discover what brings out the best in humankind, and what brings out the worst, because it’s the stars or the jungle.” Now, several decades later, we remain at the same crossroads, having learned little-to-nothing about what brings out our best and our worst. What have we chosen for ourselves in 2024 for the next four years: the stars or the jungle?
For the 2024 election, a national “Get Out the Vote” campaign was orchestrated by AIGA (the professional association for design) in conjunction with the League of Women Voters. Of necessity, the posters are non-partisan, meaning they don’t advocate for a particular candidate or political party, but merely leave you with a thought and the encouragement to make up your own mind and vote! You can see the posters so far at https://getoutthevote.secure-platform.com/a/gallery?roundId=359. I am proud that six of my posters were selected for national availability. Here they are, meant to be printed at 11″ x 17″, with the requisite AIGA banner at the bottom. It was intended that people would use the link above to download any of the posters, plant them in their front yard or otherwise use them as seen fit, and encourage people to vote. Please always protect our democracy.
