There’s no denying that the Occupy movement has been inspiring people across the globe, and in many cases, that inspiration is being expressed artistically. Not that we find this the least bit surprising — art and activism have always gone hand in hand. In New York City, the Smithsonian and the New York Historical Society, aware that they have a phenomenon on their hands, have been gathering artifacts from the protest all along, with an eye towards future exhibitions. Even with the art-world spin-off Occupy Museums, meant to get “people to think about who museums serve, and calling the art world out on its elitism and its abuse of labor,” the artistic community has been very supportive of the movement. Here we have collected twenty artworks, from drawings to posters to sculptures to puppets from artists both well known (Banksy, Shepard Fairey) and anonymous. Some of these, like the propaganda posters and stamped dollars, are meant to further the Occupy movement’s cause directly, while others are just artistic visions or ways to capture the humanity of what’s going on in the world right now. Click through to check out twenty pieces of art about Occupy Wall Street, and let us know what you think in the comments.
Untitled Banksy artwork at Occupy London, St. Paul’s Cathedral. Photo by Duncan C.
“Ten Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators in Ten Days” series by Gary Bedard.
“Lady Liberty” by puppeteer Joe Therrien. Photo courtesy Clik/Hear.
“Figure Sleeping on the Ground,” by Norman Kirby.
“Occupy HOPE” by Shepard Fairey.
An artwork featured in “No Comment,” a pop-up art exhibit with works from various artists, held at the former building of JP Morgan & Co in October. Photo via the New York Times.
“OCCUPY” by Alexandra Clotfelter.
“Those Orange Beams” by Jen Tracy. Buy it here.
“Occupation Party” invite by Shepard Fairey.
“Fighting Back” by Barry Blitt. Photo courtesy The New Yorker .
Stamped dollars (and stamps to print your own) by Occupy George.
Poster by Rob Sheridan.
“Wall Street Monopoly” by William Banzai. Courtesy Village Voice.
“The Big Idea” by Brandt Hardin.
Poster by Favianna Rodriguez.
“After the Ousting of the Occupy Wall Street Protest” by Patrick Chappatte. Courtesy New York Times.
Poster by R. Black.
The now infamous Occupy Wall Street “bat signal,” created by Mark Read. Read an interview with him here.
“Occupy Wall Street (Bologna’s enthusiasm)” by Guy Denning. See more here.
The classic Adbusters poster.