All the President’s Art

Martin Puryear Damien Hirst Andy Warhol Edward Ruscha Jasper Johns Cy Twombly Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Dan Flavin

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“I believe that the Obamas (and this administration) are smart enough to accept a biting political satire. HOPE He Can CHANGE This Shit! (2008) by Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung, a Chinese-born artist known for his charged digital collages, would find a special resonance ‘on the inside.’

“And for the sublime slowdown of the hectic White House pace, I propose untitled (to Barnett Newman to commemorate his simple problem, red, yellow and blue) (1970) by Dan Flavin. An abstract, transcending, immaterial, and contemplative piece of sheer beauty.”
Chrissie Shearman, senior director, Yvon Lambert New York

“Shinique Smith’s work would be the perfect addition to the home of the first family, with the Obamas’ focus on the people and their message of inclusiveness. Smith utilizes the discarded objects of everyday life in a considered way. Blue Green Yellow Red references Ellsworth Kelly’s seminal work of the same title from 1966. Bale Variant No. 0017 invokes bundles of clothes being sent to Africa, aid from the First World to the Third World. The artist’s own writing is incorporated in the piece, and all of the materials are hand-dyed by Smith.

“Obama has stated that he is generally in favor of looking forward, not backward. Jenny Holzer’s work, with the central role that language plays, consistently focuses on timely subject matter and affirms the call to look forward, while showing that we must assess the past in order to do so. Incorporating Holzer’s socially and politically charged works — such as Striped Cross or, perhaps even more provocatively, Purple — would be an incredibly strong and poignant statement.”
Daneyal Mahmood, owner, Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York

“Waterboarding by Stephen J. Shanabrook — the title says it all, and I think the work has a lot of charm and humor. I also love it because it is slightly reminiscent of blackface, which is more appropriate than the concept of torture these days — which is interesting in and of itself, and I think of the Obamas as progressive enough not to shy away from either concept.

“Empire at War is a ballpoint pen on linen by Andrei Molodkin. Andrei used as many pens as soldiers had died in Iraq up to the point he made the piece back in September 2006 — 2,764. I would like to see the piece in the White House and the number of pens at the foot of the drawing increase every time another soldier dies.

“The bad-news image is a sculpture by Guerra de la Paz, Sealing the Deal. I think it is timely, given the weak economy and Wall Street’s collapse, to remember how we all got here. Put the piece at the entrance to the Federal Reserve.

“Artforum is a piece by Justine Cooper, part of a marketing campaign for a fictitious drug (Havidol) for a disease she created (dysphoric social attention consumption deficit anxiety disorder). The concept is that nothing is wrong with you, but you are still not satisfied. Fix health care.”
Edward Winkleman, owner, Winkleman Gallery, New York

“Edward Hopper’s Early Sunday Morning. In addition to representing Main Street in a small American town, there’s a hopeful, if somewhat somber, feel to this painting. This seems to describe the state of the country at the moment. We’re war weary and very nervous about the economy, but we’re encouraged by Obama’s message of hope and the true breakthrough in our history that his presidency represents.

“Jacob Lawrence’s ‘The Great Migration.’ This series of paintings seems a nice choice for two reasons. First, it is among the earliest major works by an African-American artist to be widely celebrated. It took ages for the entire series to be unified in one institution, which perhaps parallels the struggle it took for the U.S. to unite behind its first non-white president. Secondly, the series itself depicts the struggle of African-Americans to find their way out of the still highly racist South into the Northern, Midwestern, and Western states, in search of a better life after the end of slavery.