Because of the US presidential elections and the central role Donald Trump will take, the Forum is featuring an exhibition that takes a look at America, because the country’s decisions typically have a global impact.
Trump’s populist style and America-first politics leave their marks, especially orally, as words like ‘fake news’ and ‘Netherlands first’ are also things heard in Dutch politics right now. The questions asked in the exhibition America & Trump by Andres Serrano are indirectly applicable to people in the Netherlands too.
Andres Serrano is an often controversial photographer who starts discussions about modern society. For Serrano, themes like death, religion, sex, and violence are the leitmotifs in his works.
The exhibition is a combination of 3 works by Serrano. They form a reflection on American society and Donald Trump, who started out as a reality star and businessman and now is trying to become president once again. The 77-year-old, who is the first former president in US history to be criminally charged, is currently facing 91 charges across four separate cases.
Photoseries ‘America’ (2001-2004)
After 9/11, Serrano worked for more than 3 years on his photo series America to give the supposed ‘enemy’ a face. It included big portraits of unknown people: from firemen to drug addicts, but also famous people: from Yoko Ono to Anna Nicole Smith and Donald Trump. Serrano’s work shows how they make up America. In the Forum, there are about 30 portraits from the photo series.
Multimedia installation ‘The Game: All Things Trump’ (2018-2024)
All Things Trump is a collection of more than a thousand Trump objects, which Serrano collected through auctions and internet sites. It ranges from hotel and casino souvenirs of the Trump brand to sports memorabilia, Melania and Trump’s wedding cake, and signed magazines.
He recently added Trump’s ‘Never Give up’ sneakers.
The movie Insurrection (2022)
Serrano made Insurrection as a response to the events of January 6th 2021, when the Capitol was stormed by Trump supporters who were protesting the election results of 2020. Sernnano takes you through the events through smartphone videos, news fragments, and film fragments from American history.
The film will be shown on a loop at the exhibition.
The exhibition runs from the 23rd of March until the 5th of November at the Forum. Standard entrance tickets cost €15.00 and are available online or from the box office.
