History. Chaz Maviyane Davies, digital print, 2016, MA. Image courtesy of: CSPG

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/political-art-satirical-election-posters-exhibit

With every election comes promises and some nasty campaign rhetoric, as candidates hit the road, making their cases to become the next President of the United States. Commentating on the social and political issues that arise with each Presidential hopeful, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics has compiled 60 political posters, ranging from the Lyndon Johnson administration to the Republican and Democratic nominees of today, in an exhibit at ARENA 1, an LA-based gallery. Providing both a critical and entertaining look at Presidential policies, domestic and international, the artistically driven posters aim to spur second thoughts in voters ahead of election day.

“There is no such thing as a perfect candidate,” says Carol Wells, founder of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics(CSPG), a non-for-profit archive of political and socially influential posters from around the world. “In order to make the best decision we really need to have our eyes open and be as objective as possible to what’s going on. What a political poster does is try to get you to challenge the way that the corporate culture tries to get us to behave.”

Using art as a form of communication and protest, international and US-based artists create satirical assessments of the previous and potential leaders of the free world, presenting alternative views of a variety of issues the candidate stand for. Whether topics surrounding climate change, war or campaign financing, these posters seek to inform, advocate, and change attitudes.