Ever since early man drew depictions of the hunt on cave walls, humans have been using art to tell stories of, and to cope with, the hardships we face. From Goya’s paintings of the Spanish Revolution, to the advent of Punk in the 70’s, the arts have persistently been used as a response to socio-political adversity.
Any event that takes place on a global scale, good or bad, is liable to spark a cultural movement. Now that Trump holds the highest office in the land, and the so-called ‘alt-right’ is gaining popularity, it seems only a matter of time before a new artistic movement rears it’s head in response. In many ways, it’s already begun.
Artists are responding to Trump in their masses
Indian installation artist Owais Husain explores themes of identity, displacement and loss in the modern world. He believes “we are all immigrants, driftwood in a ceaselessly dysfunctional world where a flux of identity in the nuclear and larger domains are elements of human nature.” While Husain has examined these themes in his work long before Trump becoming US president seemed plausible, these are words which we would do well to remember.
Direct artistic responses to Trump have been running viral thick and fast; ever since Trump first revealed his bid to become US president. It seems that artists ranging from sculptors to slam poets to everyone in between have been inspired by the 2016 election results. Thoroughly un-subtle murals depicting Trump as everything from the poop emoji to Jabba the Hut have sprung up like grass and gone viral, while feminist artists are using Trump’s statements about women to fuel the fire of their artistic statements.
Trump’s treatment of the arts
The irony that we are surrounded by Trump protest art while Trump himself has vowed to defund the arts is inescapable. However, as the Irish Times pointed out, artists work best when they’re got something to work against. The article goes on to point out that, as we’ve seen under previous Reagan and Bush administrations, an authoritarian right wing presidency is capable of making art great again.
The fight between Trump and the Arts is already entrenched in his politics. By cutting arts funding in favour of military spending, Trump makes it very clear that he thinks the arts are an unnecessary expenditure. But in attempting to trivialise the arts, he still fails to trivialise the statement that the artists are making against him. After all, it doesn’t cost much to go viral.
The power of art
Art isn’t just going to be spurred on by Trump’s presidency; art it going to provide a valuable coping method and way to be heard for many of us as the presidency unfolds.
Indeed, studies show that there are many potential benefits of art in enhancing health and wellness, both physically and psychologically. So is it any wonder why many within the arts community now use their artistic expression to cope with the reality of Trump in the White House?
It seems the benefits of art in Trump’s time are twofold; to help us process and to help us be heard. As painter and art critic Maureen Mullarkey said: “Dark times are upon us. Now more than ever, artists are needed to save us from the snare and the pit.”
