Which COVID art will go down in history?
A guest post by Ken Avidor, producer of UNJABBED the Movie.
Future art historians may list the artists produced in this era in the same way they list artists from similar troubled times…
The historians will likely separate artists into two groups; those artists that chose to create propaganda for the government, pharmaceutical/medical Industry and those artists who created art that protested, satirized or simply expressed weariness and dread of masking, lockdowns etc.
To make things easier for art historians, I’ve compiled and present here, a list of artists I admire, who created artwork expressing a personal ambivalence, disdain or something stronger for the official gov/pharma/media narrative.
- Ken Avidor
Which COVID art will go down in history?
Not too long ago, I wrote something bragging about how Nevermore’s very own Jordan Henderson is the truth movement’s greatest fine artist.
As Jordan pointed out to me soon thereafter, he seems to be the only painter doing COVID-related political commentary, meaning that he is also the truth movement’s worst fine artist.
I doubt very much that that’s how history will remember him, though.
Anyway, in that piece, I questioned the validity of the linguistic distinction between “fine art” and “art” proper.
Soon after it was published, I heard from an illustrator, animator, and fellow Substacker by the name of Ken Avidor, the producer of UNJABBED the Movie.
As I’m sure you’ll want to know more about Ken’s work after watching UNJABBED, I refer you to his Substack:
It turns out that Ken had compiled a list of some of the best art of the COVID era, which, unsurprisingly, included Jordan Henderson near the top of the list, just below the widely celebrated cartoonist Bob Moran, who I am also a big fan of, and whose work adorns the most popular thing I’ve ever written.
T.S. Eliot might not approve of a cartoonist ranking above a classically trained fine artist, but he’s dead.
Also, art’s not a dick-measuring contest, and my aim isn’t to compare great artists to each other. My goal is to celebrate great art, and I believe this is Ken’s intention as well.
Bob Moran lost his livelihood by staying true to the art of cartooning, and deserves his status as movement hero.
This post is meant to stimulate conversation about what the best art of the COVID era was, not to argue over who’s the best. My question is rather this - who belongs in the cohort of the A-list artists of the COVID era? Who deserves to go down in history?
I think Ken’s list is a very useful starting place for this convo, which will be happening for years to come.
Kinda crazy to think this way, but there’s really no question that some of the artists that I am directly in contact with will go down in history.
If there are visual artists who you feel belong on this list, please give them a shout out in the comments. I’m sure that there are many names that belong on this list that neither he nor I know about.
The list seems to include only anglophones, for instance, which is proof that it is very incomplete.
It’s also worth noting that this list does not include photography, which is the only possible explanation for the omission of Laura Dodsworth’s brilliant work.
If anyone has compiled a list of some of the best COVID-era photography, please send it my way!
Anyway, this seems like a good moment to mention the fact that Nevermore has gradually been shifting its focus more and more into meta-commentary.
By this, I mean commentary about the critiques of analysts, artists, and philosophers. This whole post is an example of meta-commentary.
NEVERMORE welcomes unsolicited submissions of original writing, including reviews, meta-commentary, and artist profiles.
I will be slowing down my output to focus on paid work in coming weeks, and I hope to keep momentum going here by publishing more guest posts, so I encourage people to send submissions to nevermore_media@riseup.net.
- Crow Qu’appelle
Art of the Covidian Age 2020-2022
by Ken Avidor
At long last, we seem to be (hopefully) emerging from the nightmarish era of bio-tyranny; mandates, lockdowns and censorship. Future art historians may list the artists produced in this era in the same way they list artists from similar troubled times, for example, George Grosz and Otto Dix of Germany’s war years and the Weimar Republic.
The historians will likely separate artists into two groups; those artists that chose to create propaganda for the government, pharmaceutical/medical Industry and those artists who created art that protested, satirized or simply expressed weariness and dread of masking, lockdowns etc.
To make things easier for art historians, I’ve compiled and present here, a list of artists I admire, who created artwork expressing a personal ambivalence, disdain or something stronger for the official gov/pharma/media narrative. I’ve attached a screenshot example of their work. As much as possible I’ve included a Twitter time stamp showing that they created their work during the critical years of 2020-2022. If I missed any artists, please let me know in the comment section.
First example has to be British cartoonist Bob Moran. Moran did many awesome cartoons on the subject, but this recent cartoon sums up the dystopian world we live in… and hopefully, the way out. Find Bob Moran on Twitter and Instagram.
Next up is Jordan Henderson. Jordan has a keen eye for the vernacular which gives his paintings an eerie, nightmarish quality. His images were shared on social media early in the Plandemic. He’s on Twitter and Instagram.
“Just An Artist Questioning” is a very good, very prolific cartoonist from Australia (I think). On Twitter and Instagram.
Cartoonist and illustrator legend Danny Hellman did some awesome satirical takes on Covidian lunacy for publication The Shadow. Find Danny on Twitter and Instagram.
Almost forgot Savage Memes by JimBob: madebyjimbob.com
Cartoonist Ben Garrison has done a lot of bizarre, awesome cartoons. Find him on Instagram.
My wife Roberta Avidor who helped me keep it together the last three years. Roberta did several paintings about the subject, focusing on the depressing, demoralizing effects of the lockdowns and mandates. Find Roberta on Instagram.
Last is my small contribution to the genre… and you can find me here and Twitter.
UPDATE: I’m adding Lee Simpson to the list. H/T Nevermore Media.
You should add Bob Moran from the UK, he is brilliant.