12 Political Art Pieces to Help You Channel Your Feelings RN
It’s been an INTENSE week with regard to politics (to say the least). Since President Trump officially took his oaths on January 20, we’ve seen massive demonstrations with the Women’s Marches, changes to our nation’s policies on women’s rights both at home and overseas and orders issued to jumpstart movement on both the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline.
While’s there’s much that can be done to continue our efforts to take a stand against things that aren’t sitting well with you, taking some time for yourself to channel your feelings into something creative can be therapeutic too: In fact, entire collections dedicated to challenging recent acts have begun to pop up, including NY-based gallery Untitled Space’s Uprise exhibition (“AKA ‘Angry Women,’ a group exhibition of female artists”) and Desert Island Comics’ Smoke Signal special RESIST! Issue. Just ask the 11 artists that created these works in reaction to current times: Check out our faves below!
1. “Champ” by Zoe Buckman: “She got grabbed, but she survived,” writes Zoe on her Instagram page.
2. “Rise Up” by Oddie: Chicago-based artist Oddie created this tribute to four of our nation’s iconic females.
3. “American Greed” by Annika Connor: One of the featured artists in the Uprise exhibition, Annika turned her feelings into art, saying, “Spending the night working on my new American Greed painting seems to be the only way I know how to process all the crazy political news of the week.”
4. “Make America Paint Again” by Tyler Shields: The imagery of photographer Tyler Shields’ piece speaks for itself here.
5. “A180HF75957” by Oddie: Oddie also created this piece in tribute to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, with a hidden nod to Star Wars in the writing (which reads “Defend the Sacred” for those in the know).
6. “Ashley Judd” by @tjanoloi: Following Ashley Judd’s fiery (if controversial) Women’s March speech, @tjanaloi created this piece in her honor.
7. “No DAPL“: “Heart shattered. Still fighting,” wrote @ddiazdestiny12, who shared this powerful imagery via Instagram.
8. “I Can’t Breathe,” by 1and4 Studio: Husband and wife duo Amy Whitehouse and Don Friesen of 1and4 Studio created this stifled masterpiece together.
9. “What the ?!,” Artist Unknown: @benjeyemin captured this brutally honest protest chalk piece during a nighttime walk.
10. “Femme Clenched Fists” by For All Womankind: Created especially for the Women’s Marches, For All Womankind offered up this unified solidarity poster.
11. “A Woman’s Place Is in the Resistance” by Hayley Gilmore: This graphic design piece by artist Hayley Gilmore was one of the many Princess Leia tributes seen at the recent marches.
12. “Plug It Up” by Laura Murray: Laura’s message is a simple, but powerful one: Plug violence up with feminism.
13. “Black Rosie the Riveter” by Sundew Designs: Sundew Designs struck a major chord with their image of a black Rosie the Riveter with her head in her hands, including this quote along with the artwork: “‘Some people ask: “Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?” Because that would be dishonest. Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general — but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender. It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded. It would be a way of denying that the problem of gender targets women.’ -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie”
Which piece of artwork was your favorite? Tell us over @BritandCo!
(h/t Teen Vogue, photo via Tara Ziemba/Getty)
