These days it’s hard to think about anything besides politics. Here are some items from Gallery 98’s inventory that illustrate the ways in which art ephemera and politics have been linked in the past. Back in the early 1980s, Ronald Reagan was the art world’s bête noir, and many of the issues that engaged artists then – the domination of politics by white men, the inequalities faced by women and people of color; abortion; war; and an unjust prison system — have persisted, and continue to affect artists today.
Find more items on Gallery 98’s Political page.
Anybody But Reagan, 1984
Chip Lord, Anybody But, Reagan Campaign, Card, 1984
Size: 4 x 6 inches
Sold
Chip Lord is best known for his work with the multi-media collective Ant Farm. This card advertises a silkscreen print created in conjunction with the 1984 presidential election.
Women’s Action Coalition, 1992
Package with 4 different postcards, each card measuring 4 x 6 inches.
Available — $150
The Women’s Action Coalition (1992–95) was formed as a response to Anita Hill’s testimony at the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court hearings in 1991. In addition to letter-writing campaigns and rallies, WAC engaged in guerrilla postering and spray painting.
Abortion Clinic, Frontline PBS, 1983
Mark Obenhaus (director), Abortion Clinic, Frontline PBS, Card, 1983
Size: 4.75 x 7 inches
Available — $100
A decade after Roe vs. Wade, Frontline went to an abortion clinic in Pennsylvania to follow the individual journeys of women facing unwanted pregnancies. This program was rebroadcast in 2019.
White Male Power, 1981
Mike Glier, “White Male Power,” 10 Poster Portfolio, 1981
Size: 11.25 x 16.5 inches
Available — $250
The full title for this set of 10 posters is White Male Power: Senators, Gameshow Hosts, National Monuments, Clergy, etc. Images from the series appeared in the Paris Review in 1982
All The Preisdent’s Men, 1981
Size: 5.5 x 8 inches
Available — $100
The United States Invades Iraq, 2003
Stefan Eins, No War, T-Shirt Made After the American Invasion of Iraq, 2003
Size: Classic girl M/OS
Available — $350
This shirt, designed by Stefan Eins features the words “No War” in the four largest language groups in the world: English, Arabic, Spanish, Russian and Chinese. Eins was the founder of the South Bronx art space Fashion Moda with its own multi-language logo.
Postcards for Political Prisoners, 2014
Collection of 38 different cards, each measuring 4 x 6 inches.
A limited number of duplicates are available individually
Available — Price on Request
Each card is addressed to a political prisoner in jail throughout the world, and features a plant or bird from the country of the particular political prisoner. Visitors to the exhibition At Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz were encouraged to take a card, write a message, and mail it to the prisoner. Ai Weiwei himself was imprisoned in China for his political activities.
