"The year began with the art world-like much of the rest of the world-holding its breath, waiting to see what America's newly re-elected president, Donald J. Trump, had on his Washington to-do list. Meanwhile, on America's other coast, a series of wildfires in and around Los Angeles burned up around 60,000 acres, killing hundreds of people, displacing thousands more, and consuming architectural landmarks as well as untold works of art."
"A political earthquake and localised apocalypse quickly gave way to months of jaw-dropping executive actions by the US president, and the art world was hardly immune. In a matter of months, Trump and his administration set their sights on everything from Washington's National Portrait Gallery-whose long-time director, the Dutch art historian Kim Sajet, quit her job after the president announced plans to fire her-to a Trump portrait in the Colorado State Capitol, replaced after he complained about it on social media."
The year began with anxiety about the president's agenda while devastating wildfires around Los Angeles destroyed land, buildings, and artworks and displaced thousands. Rapid executive actions targeted cultural institutions and individual portraits, prompting leadership resignations and replacements following presidential complaints. Policies including militarised immigration enforcement, proposed and actual tariffs, and rollbacks of diversity initiatives chilled the art and design communities and fostered a pervasive gloom. Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza produced daily anger and despair, with artists among the casualties. Many artists appeared more resigned and fearful of speaking out compared with protest levels in the 1960s.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
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