I think they're excellent in a surprising way. I don't think much of the technique - it's so standardised and unoriginal, a bit like old-fashioned poster art. But the theme and its implications are strong. It makes me think of how past and recent presidents might respond to one another if they could all sit together sharing a beer, or how they might get along in a friendly game of snooker or pool. Abe Lincoln counts as the greatest - not just for his values and policies but for his ability to successfully argue the reasons for them. I was wondering just yesterday what he might think of Trump's tweets, press releases and speeches. Why is there no one of Abe's calibre willing to stand for office today?
Yes, I noticed that - I wondered if the painter suggests the contrast between Washington's time and values, and what has happened with POTUSes since. The second picture on each pool room walls frames not a mirror, but portraits of one or two of the more recent presidents - why are they picked out? do they indicate echoes of themes? - and if so, which ones? I wonder if the painter asks us to reflect on the trajectories of history, the values the US once aimed for and whether they still hold in the same ways as back then? Is he asking us to evaluate?
This post was edited by inky at October 17, 2018 7:20 PM MDT
I'm not sure he's asking us to read anything into them unless we choose to. And to answer your question about why nobody of Lincoln's caliber is running today, there have been few candidates of his caliber at any time before him or since. That's why he stands out as a great president.
That's how it is with artists. (I was one by training and for twenty years.) Many like to incorporate multiple layers of meaning, but also fully understand that the viewer brings their own responses to the work and that there is no way to control or predict what these responses might be. Despite that, the specific range of responses tends turns out to be roughly the same for most works; consider the range of responses to Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus, or Warhol's Marylin Monroe.
And it also includes Nixon, only the biggest crook ever elected. And the Democratic one includes Andrew Jackson, racist Woodrow Wilson, and big-time misogynists JFK and Bill Clinton. But how does any of that detract from the artistry? I don't believe it does.
This post was edited by Stu Spelling Bee at October 18, 2018 8:03 AM MDT
inky 