James Esber

In early 2017 my anxiety grew as I watched an inept and pathologically narcissistic President fumble in his job. I hated the way his rambling diatribes often focused on undermining the freely expressed views of the press and fact-based reality itself. Early that year I was struck by a retrospective of Phillip Guston’s 1970’s Nixon drawings, titled Poor Richard. Brilliantly direct and enigmatic, they manage to capture a subjective view of a public figure in private moments. What impressed me most of all was how clearly they were tied to their historical moment. Soon after, I began my own Poor Donald series. Ostensibly portraits of the current president, these drawings combine some of his most recognizable features with a host of other references.

Last year I began a more public project, called Grand Flag. With the help of a neighbor I constructed a 12-foot flagpole on my roof, clearly visible from the busy intersection of Grand Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I began to invite artists to make work in the form of flags. The intent is not to speak in any unified voice, but to expand the range of individual perspectives given voice in public dialogue. Several weeks into the stay at home order in New York and extremely frustrated with the president’s inept and self-congratulatory press conferences, I fashioned a message from Brooklyn to the White House. A string of painted letters tied to the railing spell out “It’s Not About You, Donald.” **

**In the attached photos Lee Boroson's flag Oh, beautiful, is also visible.