Aug 18, 2022 - Sale 2613

Sale 2613 - Lot 332

Price Realized: $ 4,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

MARK GELLER (DATES UNKNOWN)


Joan Jett-Blakk for President.
Offset lithograph poster. 655x495mm; 25 3/4x19 1/2 inches. 1992.
In 1992 drag queen and activist Terrance Alan Smith ran for president of the United States as Joan Jett-Blakk, representing the Queer Nation Party. Her memorable slogan from the ultimately unsuccessful campaign was "Lick Bush in '92." With plans to have Dykes on Bikes patrolling America's borders, and to paint the White House lavender, her campaign was effective in its cutting satire and helped bring queer issues into the American political debate. As Smith she was able to sneak in to the Democratic National Convention in Madison Square Garden, where she changed back into a star spangled mini dress and announced her candidacy from the floor of the convention. A performance that caused Pat Buchanon to proclaim that her appearance was "the greatest single exhibition of cross-dressing in American political history." This poster borrows liberally from the famous Black Panther image from the early 1970s of an armed Huey Newton sitting in a wicker chair.