Join the Anti-Trump #J20 Art Strike on Inauguration Day! A letter from Thomas Hirschhorn

“Tomorrow, Friday January 20., Nomination Day, I will do Art Strike. I will do Art Strike as a simple, humble but nevertheless engaged gesture.

– I will do Art Strike tomorrow because, as an artist, I know that Art – all Art of all times and all places – crosses borders. That Art – all Art of all times and all places – addresses a nonexclusive audience in all circumstances. That Art – all Art of all times and all places – never builds walls, never establishes borders or imagines separations. Art is inclusive. Art, because it’s Art, is universal. Universality means Justice, Equality, the Other, Truth. I want to remain truthful.

– I will do Art Strike tomorrow in solidarity with all my artist friends from America and abroad who do Art Strike, with all my art-historian and art-critic friends from America and abroad who do Art Strike, and with all my gallery friends, institutions and art space friends from America and abroad who do Art Strike. I want to signify: You are not alone and I know: I am not alone.

– I will do Art Strike tomorrow because I have to pay the price myself therefore first, which is the only way to give a real sense to a strike, a protest or a boycott. I have to pay the price because tomorrow I will not do what I love most to do: My artwork. And I have to pay the price because I will not celebrate an important event to me: The opening of my exhibition “Pixel-Collage” at Kunsthal Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark, and I am happy Kunsthal Aarhus joined – as institution – the Art Strike as well.”

— Thomas Hirschhorn, Aarhus, January, 19th.

Dozens of US galleries and nonprofits have announced their plans to close in solidarity with the #J20 Art Strike on Friday, January 20th. See the list of galleries here and join the #J20 Art Strike!

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