The mood in the United States right now? Tense, charged, and filled with dread. Election Day has arrived in a bitterly divided nation. The art world has felt quieter this election cycle than in 2020—perhaps because divisions are so deep-set, perhaps to avoid conflict (and keep business going), perhaps because of sheer fatigue. (Trump announced his first run more than nine years ago.) Those who have been vocal largely support Vice President Kamala Harris, but there are plenty of Trump voters, particularly in the collecting class. Up to and beyond Election Day, as results come in, Artnet News will be reporting on how the art world is reacting. Stay with us for live updates and, hopefully, some enriching distractions. —The Editors
HAMMERTIME
Art auction veteran Simon de Pury weighs in on the Election Day atmosphere in the latest edition of his Artnet News column, The Hammer. “Generally a diminishing tolerance for people who don’t share your political ideas has spread in the world at large and has even managed to make inroads in the art world,” he writes. De Pury recalls conducting auctions in 2008 for Barack Obama and Gagosian hosting a 2016 auction fundraiser for Hillary Clinton. The art world definitely feels bereft of a united energy behind either candidate this election cycle, and there haven’t been similar large-scale funding moments. “If voting were limited to artists there would be a very different outcome of the election, than if it was limited to the collectors of their work,” he muses. —N.R., 12:36 p.m.
Pider Martin and For Freedoms, Make America Great Again, on view in Pearl, Missouri in 2016. Designed by Jon Santos. Photo: Wyatt Gallery.
BILLBOARDS POINT THE WAY TO FREEDOMS
Voters on the way to the polls in 20 states and the District of Columbia may come across one of some 22 artist-designed billboards with thought-provoking messages, on view courtesy of the nonprofit For Freedoms. Launched in 2016 by artists Eric Gottesman, Hank Willis Thomas, and Michelle Woo, For Freedoms has erected some 550 billboards by stars like Shepard Fairey, Theaster Gates, the Guerrilla Girls, JR, Carrie Mae Weems, and Ai Weiwei, which were all compiled in a recently published book. One of the edgiest works was designed by Pider Martin and For Freedoms, and had Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” superimposed over an image of police and civil-rights demonstrators facing off on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965. —B.B., 12:05 p.m.
PARTYING IN THE PALMETTO STATE
Digital artist Beeple, who is known for absurd compositions that incorporate pop culture and politics and that heavily feature Donald J. Trump, is bringing that same spirit to a yuge election night party in his hometown of Charleston, S.C. Free to the public, the event promises true sensory overload with immersive wall-to-wall coverage from multiple news platforms. Attendees can also expect “shitloads of murica vibes!!” That includes a hot dog eating contest and various performance art pieces, including Beeple’s uncanny “living sculptures” of famous figures like Elon Musk, Andy Warhol, Kim Jong Un, and… Picasso!? —J.L-T., 11:50 a.m.
GRIN AND BEAR IT
It’s a tradition as American as apple pie to write in a fictional character on an election ballot, often as a protest agains the listed candidates. Mickey Mouse, Rick Astley, Darth Vader, and Cosmo Kramer are some of the more popular choices. This year, artist Jamian Juliano-Villani threw a new name into the ring, revealing on her Instagram account that she wrote in Ralph Lauren’s emblematic teddy, The Polo Bear, on her ballot. “It feels nice to THINK,” Juliano-Villani captioned the photo. —A.A., Nov. 5, 11:20 a.m.
PUTTING HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS
New York magazine’s indefatigable senior art critic, Jerry Saltz, has never been one to hold back his political opinions and prognostications, but this time he is putting his skin in the game. He has $200 on Vice President Harris winning by “one percentage point,” he said on Instagram. “Which is huge.” The Pulitzer Prize-winner’s view is that “if Harris wins it won’t be because she’s a woman or black. It’ll be because in the tiny amount of time that she had to run, she rarely stumbled.” —A.R.
Installation view of “Carrie Mae Weems: The Shape of Things” at the Gladstone Gallery in New York.
RELATIONAL AESTHETICS
Are you feeling anxious about Election Day? Are you thinking it might be nice to be in the company of others? That is sensible. If you are in New York, you can head to the Gladstone Gallery’s West 21st Street location, which is hosting readings and live music from 3 p.m. until midnight. The event is being organized by artist Precious Okoyomon, writer Vincent Katz, and artist-musician Brian Degraw as part of Carrie Mae Weems’s current exhibition at the gallery, which has featured a bevy of live programming.
There is more! Food will be provided by Rirkrit Tiravanija + Co. and the Spiral Theory Test Kitchen. Regardless of the outcome, you will likely eat some tasty food and perhaps make some fine memories. (On a personal note, I was at a performance of Madame Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera when Barack Obama won in in 2008. Someone shouted the news right after the opera ended, and the crowd went wild. A happy thought.)
The readers and/or performers who are booked include artist Joan Jonas, former Guggenheim chief curator Nancy Spector, Gladstone partner Gavin Brown, critic-curator Bob Nickas, and many more. If you’re a Trump voter, probably best to leave the MAGA hat at home for this one! —A.R.
Courtesy Earth
BACK ON PLANET EARTH
Gladstone is not alone in organizing an Election Day event. On Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Earth—an always interesting space run by artist Christopher Kulendran Thomas, curator Annika Kuhlmann, and writer Dean Kissick—will get its own festivities underway at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. “We’ll be streaming a multi-channel broadcast, a Cubist video-montage with ambient music, popcorn, and drinks,” Kissick said in an email. “Our space opens onto the street and everyone’s welcome to join us. The event ends when the result’s called—or when we decide to go to sleep.” Sounds very pleasant! Last month, artist and writer Seth Price presented a captivating reading at Earth titled Before Writing, and After. It’s up now on YouTube, and I can pretty much guarantee that you will not think about the election while watching it. —A.R.
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE
In recent weeks, German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans has been using tastefully designed Instagram posts to urge his 350,000 followers to support the Harris-Walz ticket and not to vote for third-party candidates Jill Stein, Cornel West, and Chase Oliver (the Libertarian candidate, who otherwise does not get a lot of play in art circles). “I can’t vote in the upcoming American elections,” Tillmans writes in one recent post. “It will have a huge impact on the entire world beyond the U.S.” He writes later, “Our future rests in your hands.” The debates in the comments of these posts are vigorous. Brace yourself.
In a remarkable coincidence, Tillmans released a song and music video early this year titled “We Are Not Going Back,” a phrase that has become something of an unofficial slogan for the Harris campaign, and he has used the track to promote her candidacy.
The photographer, who will have a show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris next June, has a long history of political activism. Perhaps most notably, he ran a campaign in 2016 to encourage voters in the United Kingdom to reject the referendum for the country to leave the European Union. —A.R.
IT BEGINS
Until at least Tuesday evening on the East Coast, there will be no results from voting booths. What should you do in the meantime? Read Artnet News, of course. In a recent article, reporter Brian Boucher took an expansive look at how the art sector is thinking about (and preparing for) a possible second Trump presidency. And here’s artist Brian Andrew Whiteley telling Sarah Cascone why he decided to bring back his highly controversial Trump tombstone. Oh! You want something to distract you from politics? Here’s Kate Brown on the current Tom Wesselmann show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. —The Editors