Ron Rivlin, August 2nd, 2016
Anti-Trump Art and the Legacy of Political Pop
Deborah Kass’s bold screenprint Vote Hillary emerged as one of the most widely discussed examples of Anti-Trump Art during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The piece channels the visual language of Andy Warhol’s political portraits, drawing on a Pop vocabulary that uses bright color, humor, and cultural reference to deliver a pointed political message. Kass’s print stands firmly within the tradition of political Pop, a lineage that includes Warhol’s own Vote McGovern.
“Vote Hillary” by Deborah Kass
In this striking example of Anti-Trump Art, Kass presents an irate, cool-toned portrait of Donald Trump set against a muted orange field. Beneath the image, she writes “Vote Hillary,” reversing the partisan direction of Warhol’s Vote McGovern, which famously paired Richard Nixon’s portrait with a call to support the Democratic nominee. By mimicking Warhol’s layout, palette, and tone, Kass situates her work within a recognizably Pop lineage while updating the political target for a new era.
Kass notes that the concept had been on her mind for years. She originally considered creating a comparable work during the 2004 election, when George W. Bush ran against John Kerry. “There was no way to make it happen then,” she recalled, “but sometimes the perfect opportunity comes up at another point in your life. It’s always been in the back of my mind … It’s the right image for the right election.” The explosive rhetoric of 2016 made the idea newly urgent, and consequently, Vote Hillary quickly became one of the most recognizable political prints of the cycle.
For readers interested in the broader relationship between art and politics, visit our internal guides to Warhol’s life and work and explore related movements in political Pop through our Warhol print portfolio pages.