The Art Angle Podcast: Ed Ruscha and Jimmy Iovine on How Art Can Help End the Trump Era

Artnet News October 29, 2020 ShareShare This Article

Welcome to the Art Angle, a podcast from Artnet News that delves into the places where the art world meets the real world, bringing each week’s biggest story down to earth. Join host Andrew Goldstein every week for an in-depth look at what matters most in museums, the art market, and much more with input from our own writers and editors as well as artists, curators, and other top experts in the field.

With less than one week until Election Day in the United States, it seems as though everyone has become political.

Amidst a national reckoning over issues ranging from police violence and systemic racial inequities, to the global pandemic and even the validity of science, even the most apolitical among us has become pundit and agitator.

One of the most salient images of America’s tattered democracy is Ed Ruscha’s Our Flag, a startling painting of Old Glory, shredded and flapping against a dark sky. Ruscha painted it at the request of his longtime friend, music impresario Jimmy Iovine, who has loaned it to the Brooklyn Museum, which has been transformed into a polling place for the 2020 election.

Ruscha and Iovine are giants of American ingenuity and success. Ruscha, one of America’s most treasured contemporary artists, is known for his California cool aesthetic and stunning word-and-image canvases, and Iovine is lauded for his contributions to music, working with the likes of John Lennon, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, and Tupac Shakur; founding Interscope Records and Beats with Dr. Dre; and launching Apple Music.

Although not typically ones to enter the political fray, now they’re on a mission to use art to oust Trump, and steer the country in a different direction. We spoke to them ahead of their live conversation with Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak and board member, collector, and music producer Swizz Beatz on Monday, November 2.

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