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7 Young Artists on What's at Stake this Election

Photographers link the political to a more poetic and empowering vision.
Justin French, Patriot, 2015, 20 x 30 inches. © Justin French

Today, Americans will decide who will be the 45th President of the United States of America. An online exhibition considers the national and international consequences of this election. The group exhibition entitled, Pulling Down The Walls, organized by Galerie Number 8, examines some of the bigger issues—immigration, race, gender and equality—of the year. Featuring artists, Campbell Addy, Ivan Forde, Justin French, Nicolas Henry, Hector Mediavilla, Leonard Pongo, and David Uzochukwi, the pop-up show uses portrait, landscape, and reportage photography, to show what’s at stake in this presidential election.

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David Uzochukwu, May Be It Is, 2015, 50 x 75 cm. © David Uzochukwu

“All electoral campaigns exploit division,” Galerie Number 8’s founder and the exhibition curator Marie Gomis Trezise tells The Creators Project. “Some images highlight the consequence of such divisions, others share a sense of pride, empowerment or the importance of heritage.”

Nicolas Henry builds out a cinematographic-like set to create a better imagine of the world while photographers Ivan Forde and David Uzochukwu employ a surreal, fictional aesthetic. While Justin French's portraits point to Black Lives Matter, police brutality, and notions of nationalism. In a trio of images—Martyr, Patriot, and Dutiful Citizen—French creates pictures that signify “gaps in representation and how in many ways different groups within the black community are suffering,” says Trezise. The images pull into focus the two different approaches the candidates have taken to addressing black voter concerns during the presidential campaign.

Campbell Addy, Ignatus I, 2015, 50 x 75 cm. © Campbell Addy

Campbell Addy’s Ignatus series, inspired by Ignatius Sancho—the first black British man to vote—uses style to communicate the importance of the ballot to signify personal and political empowerment. Addy’s Agape V communicates unity and envisions the need for “love and kindness,” virtues Hillary Clinton has often spoken of on the campaign trail.

Hector Mediavilla, Latingo Border #6, 2010, 48 x 60 inches. © Hector Mediavilla

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, declared his candidacy by saying, “We want to have a secure border and defend ourselves. We want to build a barrier to stop the trafficking of weapons, drugs and people.” The speech, gives Hector Mediavilla’s Latingo Border series new meaning. The documentary-style landscapes photographed in 2010 symbolize the fraught history between the United States and Mexico, and the proposed deportation of undocumented Mexicans currently living in the United States.

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Hector Mediavilla, Latingo Border #1, 2010, 48 x 60 inches. © Hector Mediavilla

Mediavilla says, “I drove along the American border to see what it looked liked and who inhabited this contradictory land. The US-Mexican border has always been a controversial issue for both countries and their politicians. In fact, much of the land was Mexican territory until the US invasion in 1846.”

Justin French, Martyr, 2016, 20 x 30 inches. © Justin French

The French-born Trezise says that her vision for the show came from personal experience. “I grew up in a project in Marseille, where politics and corruption work hand in hand. I've always been very sensitive to how electoral campaigns can bring people together.” She says, “Looking at the collection of Galerie Number 8, I thought it would be interesting to link the political to more poetic, empowering, fictional visions.”

Pulling Down The Walls continues through December 16. To see the show, click here.

Every vote counts, so remember to hit the polls on November 8. Check out the VICE Guide to the 2016 Election here.

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