It's nice to see you again
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Hello, in this week’s issue we’ll look at…
A letter from the editor
This projection welcomed Biden and other world leaders to the UK for the UN climate summit
Hi, yes, Hunter Biden’s first New York gallery show is now open
Celtics star Enes Kanter is using his shoes this season to absolutely rage against Chinese oppression
It’s nice to see you again
Hello, reader, and welcome to Yello, a visual politics newsletter. For those of you who are new here, my name’s Hunter. For everyone else, it’s nice to see you again.
I went on hiatus earlier this year after the death of my father to give myself room to heal. Grief is different for everyone, but it isn’t quick or easy. I’ll never be able to completely fill the hole in my heart left by my dad’s death — he means too much to me for that to happen — but realizing that meant the only option was to grow a bigger heart. I still have miles to go, and I take it one day at a time. I’ll have more to say later this week on loss, hope, and art, and I hope you’ll read. 💛
Thanks for giving me the time to step away, and thank you to everyone who offered their condolences, thoughts, and prayers. Thank you also to those of you who’ve been reading my drafts the past few weeks as I geared up to relaunch. I’m excited to be back :)
We have so much to see. Thanks for inviting me into your inbox.
This projection welcomed Biden and other world leaders to the UK for the UN climate summit
COP26, a UN climate summit, opened Sunday in Glasgow, and to welcome the summit and world leaders from more than 100 countries to the UK, a light projection by American artist Jenny Holzer, “Hurt Earth,” went on display.
The work projects messages about fighting climate change, like “If Not Now Then When,” “If Not Us Then Who,” and “Like the Oceans We Rise.” The projection is part of a World Wildlife Fund art and climate campaign, and it opened at Tate Modern in London with stops scheduled later this month in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
At the summit, President Joe Biden said the U.S. will cut carbon emissions over the next decade and “hopefully lead by the power of our example.”
“Every day we delay, the cost of inaction increases, so let this be the moment that we answer history’s call, here in Glasgow,” Biden said. He ended his speech with “May God save the planet.”
Hi, yes, Hunter Biden’s first New York gallery show is now open
The Journey Home, first son Hunter Biden’s debut New York City gallery show, is now on view, but you’ll need a reservation if you want to get in.
The appointment-only show at the Georges Bergès Gallery in SoHo features 25 works from Biden. Bergès, the gallery owner, told Artnet News the show aims to present Biden as a serious artist.
“One of the things that I never anticipated was the political irrationality that people can have,” Bergès said. “There are the blind, predetermined judgements, not just of Hunter, but of myself. If people objectively look at his work, it’s great work. And majority of people, they come in and they’re like, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect this!’”
White House officials worked on an agreement in which Biden’s gallerist will keep collector and pricing information confidential over ethical concerns buyers would try buying art for access to the White House. A former director of the Office of Government Ethics during the Obama and Trump administrations told the Washington Post he didn’t think the arrangement was effective, but Bergès told Artnet News he’d follow the rules.
“I answer to the laws that are set by Congress,” Bergès said. “I do my own due diligence. Nobody knows about the collectors. Only me.”
You can see more of Biden’s work on his artist page on the gallery’s website. The paintings are reportedly priced between $75,000 to $500,000, and the first son is already working on his next piece, set to be six feet tall and 25 feet wide, Bergès said. Biden was spotted by paparazzi last week at Blick Art Materials in Santa Monica picking up acrylic gesso, which is used to prepare a canvas and meant for high-volume use.
Celtics star Enes Kanter is using his shoes this season to absolutely rage against Chinese oppression
Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter laced up in customized shoes calling for the 2022 Winter Olympics to be moved out of China when his team was in D.C. Saturday to take on the Wizards.
The shoes were painted by Khenzom Alling, a student artist at Yale who Kanter found through the organization Students for a Free Tibet. Alling said in a DM her only instructions were to make a shoe for the No Beijing 2022 campaign. She chose a light blue to reference winter and juxtapose against the red dripping blood, which serves as “a reminder of ongoing violence” by the Chinese Communist Party, she said. The flags on the shoes represent “the five nations oppressed by China,” Alling said: Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southern Mongolia, with alternative pro-independence protests flags used for Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“As a Tibetan, I am accustomed to the struggle of my people being overlooked by mainstream media and public figures,” Alling wrote on Instagram. “So to me, having such a courageous athlete wear shoes with the Tibetan flag represents a milestone in our movement to free Tibet and to boycott the Beijing Olympics.”
Since the 2021-22 NBA season started last month, Kanter has dressed out in multiple shoes created by dissident Chinese artist Badiucao criticizing China for the occupation of Tibet, internet censorship, and Uyghur oppression. We’ve seen athletes use their shoes to speak out before, but I’ve never seen anyone with Kanter’s commitment game after game. Impressive.
The 6’10” Celtics star even called out Nike last week in a pair of the brand’s Air Jordan 11s customized with red splatters and the phrases “Made With Slave Labor,” “Hypocrite Nike,” and “No More Excuses” (Nike and other companies were accused of using Uyghur slave labor to produce their products in a report last year, which Nike denied, and the company lobbied against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in Congress).
Kanter’s activism has even gotten his team’s games banned in China after he posted a video on opening day calling on China to free Tibet. The Chinese app Tencent Sports pulled all Celtics games and highlights from its platform shortly after.
Kanter is a longtime critic of authoritarianism in his native Turkey and beyond. In a post about his No Beijing 2022 shoes, he was unequivocal, writing, “The genocidal Chinese government and the insecure tyrant behind it all, Xi Jinping, must not be allowed to host the upcoming Winter Olympics.”
This is cool:
Happy Election Day! What should America’s election mascot be?
So glad my favorite newsletter is back 💛
Welcome back! I missed your voice. Why can’t the USA have an adorable voting mascot, too?