Aberdeen’s ‘The Art of Resistance’ has rage and ridicule
Published 1:30 am Monday, August 10, 2026
Nineteen artists and a dog sent a clear message to anyone threatening cherished democracy.
Resistance isn’t futile.
It’s essential.
And patriotic.
Eyes alert, head available for stroking, Nima, a black labrador-border collie mix, padded silently through a side gallery at the Aberdeen Art Center. Amid the powerful images, her tail thumped back and forth.
“She’s really good with people,” said Douglas Orr, an artist, gallery director and mayor of Aberdeen, as the exhibit opened.
“The Art of Resistance,” which opened Aug. 2, will run two months in the 8,500 square-foot bright terra cotta colored building.
Themes include environmental justice, women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, freedom of speech, defense of the Constitution and the human impact of immigration policies. It draws on the often quoted remark by comic-actor Albert Brooks: “Art and resistance are great together. That’s what art is made for.”
Colors
The exhibit’s logo is a tattered American flag. Flag colors appear in a pieced and appliquéd fiber art “We the People” wall hanging by Elizabeth Bolton. “I need to focus on the strength and resilience of our population as we navigate these turbulent times,” she noted. “Using these saturated colors to convey this message has been a balm.”
Orr decorated an entire corner highlighting St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, Christian martyrs who likely were “erastai,” which can be translated as meaning lovers. They are venerated in some gay circles.
In the 1930s, fascist violence infected Europe. Orr is worried that history is repeating itself; and he fears censorship rearing its ugly head. “Are we going to be able to have things like this down the line?” he asked.
One of his acrylic images was ruled so savage it wasn’t allowed in the exhibit. “I just think we are on this precipice and we have to be dramatic about it or not doing it at all,” he said.
“I don’t think we have more haters. I think the haters have been emboldened by this president. I don’t think we have more, but they have intimidated a lot of people.”
‘Nervous’
Laveta Bowen and Marguerite Garth were curators. “This show is a response to the escalating threats against democracy, both at home and abroad,” they said, noting that resistance art has been a cornerstone of human expression throughout history, from Goya, Diego Rivera and Picasso, to modern artists like Banksy and Basquiat, whose fame blossomed from graffiti beginnings.
Last year’s inaugural “resistance” show was larger.
“I think artists have a tradition, though not speaking out they channel their experience — that is a large part of what artists do,” said Bowen, whose intense oils displayed an environmental message. “Many artists are a little nervous to participate in a show these days. There are fewer artists this year.”
Garth, of Tokeland, is a photographer, writer and artist who has earned international awards for her work. A piece in oil, watercolor and pencil shows Donald Trump positioned like the figure in Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” Her title, “The Screams,” was chosen to remind of the destruction caused by unnecessary covid-19 deaths and the war against Iran.
A table displays a guitar she sculpted from wood and found objects inspired by the song “Alligator Alcatraz” by Uncle Sam’s Blues. Another three-dimensional exhibit is called “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?” (who will guard the guardians?) It draws on her fascination with the 800 AD Book of Kells at Trinity College in Dublin, layering photographs into manuscript pages with gold leaf on parchment.
‘Crass’
The president was a target for rage and ridicule.
Nancy Farrar-Coughlin made a mixed-media collage and acrylic design using words from Barry McGuire’s 1965 song, “Eve of Destruction.”
Tamara D’Andrea painted an “8647” motif on a baseball cap. Kitty Bryan provided a knitted Red Norwegian Resistance Hat, worn as a protest against the Nazi occupation in the 1940s, which inspired similar anti-ICE headgear last year.
A “no kings” thread emerged.
Carole Cohen created a mixed-media collage. “Blinded by the lies, like sheep they walked in the shadow of darkness behind the man who wants to be a King.”
Orr wasn’t the only artistic mayor. Sue Svendsen, mayor of Long Beach, provided three pieces, one called “Only These Monarchs,” celebrating the resurgence of the Monarch butterfly. Another, a watercolor titled “We The People,” showed two eagles protecting an American flag while tossing a crown into a garbage can.
‘Push back’
Anna Lybecker offered a hexagonal abstract with a dissolving red and white image on a dark blue field called “Disillusion 1.” Her written description attacked the “rampant crimes against humanity and human trafficking perpetrated by the top tier world wide.”
Lybecker reminded of the country’s inception as an “exclusive club” for white men, but said there has been movement toward balancing out the exclusion of people of color, women and children.
“Let us all push back and fight for a more equitable existence. Fear, ignorance and rage have long been how the elite have garnered control. Resistance can usher in a new way of being for us all.”
‘Abandoned’
Treatment of immigrants and deportations that split families inspired a photo display by gallery co-owner David Rodriguez, who uses a discreet pocket Canon camera. “It is hard to imagine a child being abandoned in a country,” he said, speaking in front of a wall of doleful expressions on young faces, one titled, “Chasing the dream alone.”
“The whole reason for the exhibit is to address from a social, economic and political basis what we are living in the United States,” he added. “It is hard being an American these days.”
Other participating artists: Donna Albert, Sylvia Dickerson, Jade Black, Randy McClelland, Craig Scott, Kris Klaerner, Mark Vincent, Ron Westman and Perky Bird. The exhibit is on view until Sept. 30.
If you want to go:
“The Art of Resistance”
Juried art show
Aberdeen Art Center, 200 W. Market St., Aberdeen
Noon to 6 p.m. Thursday through Monday until Sept. 30.
Free admission.
