Join or Die

Join Or Die, 2008. Oil on canvas, 18x24 inches.

Justine Lai says, FUCK THE MAN! In the artist's Join or Die series, she paints herself having sex with the US Presidents in chronological order.

Artist Statement:
I am interested in humanizing and demythologizing the Presidents by addressing their public legacies and private lives. The presidency itself is a seemingly immortal and impenetrable institution; by inserting myself in its timeline, I attempt to locate something intimate and mortal. I use this intimacy to subvert authority, but it demands that I make myself vulnerable along with the Presidents. A power lies in rendering these patriarchal figures the possible object of shame, ridicule and desire, but it is a power that is constantly negotiated.