For the month leading into the US midterm elections the School of Visual Arts is hosting “Art as Witness: Political Graphics 2016 – 18,” an exhibition of over 200 satirical and politically charged illustrations, cartoons and animations from 53 artists.
Ann Quito, for Quartz, reviews the exhibit.
As the illustrator Victor Juhasz writes in the exhibition catalogue: “We visual satirists continue to do what we do in spite of the fact that we currently work in a world where it seems impossible to shame the shameless.”
What use is satire—even brilliant satire—if the thick-skinned target is deaf to criticism?
above: Victor Juhasz published in Rolling Stone.
Timed to coincide with the final weeks of the highly anticipated midterm elections, “Art as Witness” comments on the Trump presidency; the #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter and #NeverAgain movements; the opioid epidemic; and the gun-control and immigration debates to encourage activism, spark discussion and, hopefully, inspire action. “Art as Witness” was curated by illustrator, caricaturist and SVA faculty member Steve Brodner and SVA’s Director of Galleries Francis Di Tommaso, and will be on view from Saturday, October 6, through Saturday, November 3, at SVA Chelsea Gallery.
More about the exhibit, and a slideshow, at the School of Visual Arts site.
