The US has entered into yet another unprecedented presidential election, under the shadow of a global Covid-19 pandemic, and with a sitting president calling overnight for the counting of Americans’ votes to stop.
On Tuesday, Election Day, as the polls reported a 10-point lead for former Vice President Joe Biden, the democratic nominee, many figures in the art world urged their social media followers to get to the polls. But as it became clear that the election would turn into a nail biter, with the possible “blue wave” turning into something more like a purple maelstrom, they started to express a more stressed-out #mood.
Artnet News rounded up some of the reliably insightful art world commentators, starting with some posts from Election Day and following up the day after.
Artist Justine Kurland, quoting a timeless artwork by Zoe Leonard, still wants a dyke for president!
Pete Souza, a photographer during the Obama presidency, has been using his photos of 44 to poke fun at 45 for four years, and it seems he’s not going to stop now.
Photographer Philip Montgomery posted a photo of a postal worker in a year when mail-in voting has become crucial—and the subject of unfounded conspiracy theories.
Brian Donnelly, aka KAWS, shared one of his beloved Companions assuming the position of the year.
Author Kimberly Drew seemed to see what was coming.
As the White House erected barriers for protection against possible civil unrest in response to contested election results, the architecture-related meme circulating on Twitter? “Well, Trump finally got his wall.”
Artist Man Bartlett pointed out that Ripley’s Believe it or Not attraction in New York also boarded up:
As did the gallery Hauser & Wirth on New York’s Upper East Side, as artist Joe Scanlan revealed:
As the Royal Academy London pointed out, the world is watching, and not necessarily seeing anything too flattering.
Artnet News columnist Kenny Schachter says he made a bet on the election with superdealer Larry Gagosian, with a Benjamin in the balance.
New York dealer Alexander Shulan lol’d about how wrong the polls seem to have gotten it:
Mona Chalabi on early voting data:
Edvard Munch’s The Scream, always on point:
LaTanya Autry, of the advocacy initiative Museums Are Not Neutral, retweets activist Bree Newsome’s commentary on how white supremacy plays into the election results:
Artist and activist Molly Crabapple repeats an old refrain from 2016:
Artist Dread Scott says the fact that this election was even close tells you what you need to know:
Michelle Obama portraitist Amy Sherald and her husband danced in a TikTok video with matching hoodies that say “Voted for Aunty”:
Artist William Powhida posted a watercolor from a George Floyd protest this past summer:
And a watercolor of Kamala Harris:
Artist Korakrit Arunanondchai says “Vote him out” with an image of Trump in flames
New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck has a “twist” on Trump’s infamous “Grab them by the pussy” quote:
Artist Alexis Rockman showed a Norman Rockwell “coin toss” painting (we hope not!):
Former Sonic Youth star and artist Kim Gordon thinks Trump is a “looser” which she says is “the French version”:
Arts journalist and Vivienne Chow brings an astrological view:
Artist Hank Willis Thomas posts an image of a Guerrilla Girls billboard, created for his For Freedoms project:
Belgian collector Alain Servais tweets a drawing illustrating that, even if Trump didn’t get his wall with Mexico, he certainly got one that divides America.
Artist David Shrigley summed up the mood as it became clear the results might take days to shake out.
Artist Deborah Kass predicts another impeachment if the White House stays in Trump’s hands, but the Senate goes blue.
Critic David Rimanelli asks what fresh … well, here you go:
Curator and White Columns director Matthew Higgs sends up a wish, courtesy of a Barbara Kruger artwork:
Artist Hank Willis Thomas’s newest project, the Wide Awakes, has a clear message:
And, finally, you didn’t think you were going to get out of here without a Kanye tweet, did you?