Now We Know Who Created the Donald Trump Headstone

He says he won't quit his guerrilla activities.

Brian Whiteley's Donald Trump tombstone. Photo by Ventiko, courtesy of Molly Krause Communications.

Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has inspired all variety of artistic output, from a painting of him with a tiny manhood to a rendition of him as a pile of feces and a Donald-shaped butt plug.

And in March, under cover of night, an artist plopped down a gravestone marked with the real estate developer’s name in New York’s Central Park. His identity remained secret until now.

Whiteley as Trump, along with Rebecca Goyette as Sarah Palin. Photo courtesy Brian Andrew Whiteley.

Whiteley as Trump, along with Rebecca Goyette as Sarah Palin. Photo by Ventiko, courtesy Brian Andrew Whiteley.

Brian Andrew Whiteley, it turns out, is the artist who commissioned Brooklyn shop Supreme Memorials to craft a 420-pound gravestone emblazoned with a riff on Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan—”Made America Hate Again.” Whiteley gave an interview to the New York Times, which had previously noted that the police had paid him a visit after learning his identity from the shop owners.

The advocate of a wall with Mexico and of a ban on Muslims entering the US has inspired Whiteley to create “Trump Supporter Costumes” that riff on Klan robes and hoods. In February, at New York’s WhiteBox Gallery, he and the artist Rebecca Goyette dressed up as Trump and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who has endorsed him, for an over-the-top performance.

Mar Granados, Brian Andrew Whiteley, and Patrick Duffy at a reception for a Kevin Baker exhibition at The Out, New York, February 2013.

Mar Granados, Brian Andrew Whiteley, and Patrick Duffy at a reception for a Kevin Baker exhibition at The Out, New York, February 2013.

Whiteley has shown his work at the Spring/Break art fair in New York and at Chicago’s Zolla Lieberman Gallery since earning an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, in New York. He’s also an art fair organizer, having founded the now-defunct Select fair and created Miami’s Satellite fair, entering its second year.

Plainclothes police and a Secret Service agent visited the artist this week, he told the Times, apparently concerned about the possibility of an assassination attempt. They asked whether he attended presidential rallies and whether he owns a gun. While Whiteley said the visit was intimidating, he added, “I don’t plan on stopping my guerrilla-style projects.”

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