"Art-Less" Exhibition

A pretty amazing political art project is currently on show at The Davis Museum in Massachusetts, which (unsurprisingly) is anti-Trump.

In what is a subtle yet powerful visual message, the gallery has taken down every piece of art in the gallery that has been produced by an immigrant in an initiative they are calling Art-Less: a nice aural play on the word heartless. The effect is a startling and shocking lack of art on the walls; the museum is suddenly full of bare, empty spaces replacing the art with small signs that say “Given by an immigrant” or “Made by an immigrant”.

It’s a reaction to Trump’s immensely unpopular travel ban and it abruptly captures the sheer importance of immigrants to the art world: ‘Why on earth should they be treated differently?’, asks the museum, offering what should be a simple answer: ‘they just shouldn’t be’.

It’s incredibly powerful for something so simple and the museum have put the template online to encourage other galleries to participate in this new form of protest. Here’s hoping something could change, no promises though.