A provocative artist, Brian Whiteley, announced that he hung one of his works in a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, which is located 15 min away from the White House, in a room №435 on the first of August 2018.
In his email to American publishing company Hyperallergic, Whiteley declared that a lot of guests had stayed in a room № 435 after he placed the picture: and it seems like no one was even bothered by this piece of art because there were no complaints. The artist connects this situation with an idea that people are undoubtedly devoted to Trump regardless of the political course he embraces.
In this painting, we can see Vladimir Putin sitting on a chair. Behind him, there is the White House, above which we can notice darkening shades and storm clouds, resembling the beginning of the Apocalypse. The interesting detail is that the Russian President wears Donald Trump’s red tie that unites them and — according to the artist — captures the essence of a «cult of authoritarianism» created by Trump in the US.
A Whiteley’s close friend — willing to stay anonymous — commented on this situation to the magazine Hyperallergic telling that they booked the room for a night specially to hang the painting. After, they went out drinking and later asked some Trump supporters to come over to their room. When they saw a painting, one of them said: «Putin, fuck yeah», which totally surprised him away.
In fact, Brian Whiteley frequently uses his art to express his opinion on Trump’s politics. For instance, in March 2016 he placed a tombstone signed «Trump, Donald J.» with an epitaph: «Made America Hate Again» in Central Park. The work was removed after three hours, but still managed to become an Internet hit.
Now it is impossible to see the painting because, according to Whiteley, the artist returned to the hotel and took back his masterpiece after a month. And only then he was noticed by security and he got escorted from the hotel as quickly as possible.
However, the hotel’s administration claims the whole story to be fabricated and none of these happened for real.
It is difficult to say if the painting of Vladimir Putin truly had been placed in Donald Trump’s suite or if it is really nothing more than just a good PR method, but anyways it cause a wide resonance in society and it is going to be discussed for a while.
By author Olga Magunova