The Presidential Cabinet (1980s / 2020s)
Originally exhibited at The Photographers’ Gallery, The Presidential Cabinet was a series of 12 Cibachrome prints made in response to Ronald Reagan’s second term in office. The work offered a pointed visual critique of conservative politics at the time — grotesque, satirical, and unapologetically bold.
With recent political shifts echoing those Reagan-era anxieties, I’ve decided to revisit the series. I’m exploring the idea of reissuing the work as large-scale inkjet posters, potentially for outdoor public display — perhaps as a visual protest in the age of Trump.
Interestingly, I recently came across a note from Marco Livingstone, dated around 1988, suggesting that a well-known English caricaturist may have borrowed heavily from this body of work. Not long after The Presidential Cabinet was shown, a strikingly similar depiction of UK ministers appeared in a major Sunday supplement — rendered with the same ghoulish satire.
I’ll be speaking with MOMUS, the Canadian online arts magazine, about the history and renewed relevance of the series.
