Supreme, a clothing brand known for its simple designs and bright red accents, teamed up with artist Richard Prince to design a new tee featuring an image overlay made of photographs of all the women that accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault.
Based on a composite image constructed of photographs, the design features all 18 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct and Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress that Trump’s attorney paid $130,000 for her silence right before the 2016 Presidential election. Because it features 18 women and Daniels, the work was accurately coined, “18 & Stormy.”
Prince drew inspiration from Ludwig Wittgenstein, the first to experiment with composite photography in the 1920s, and Francis Galton, an anthropologist who conducted composite photography experiments in the Victorian era.
Rather than diminishing or conflating the very different experiences these 19 women have lived or searching for facial resemblance as in Galton’s experiments, we searched for another commonality,” according to the Downtown for Democracy’s website. “’18 & Stormy’ highlights a different connecting thread. The clarity emerging from the fuzziness of the image is what each of these women implore: exposing the truth about their experiences with Trump.”
This was not Prince’s first time working with composite photography. In 2013, he created a composite image of all 57 women Jerry Seinfeld appeared on screen with during the run of famous tv show Seinfeld. This work is a more politicized version of that project.
100 percent of the proceeds from the $40 shirts will go to Downtown for Democracy. The line launched Thursday, Nov. 1 and sold out instantly (we’re sad, but you can buy a poster of his image here). While we don’t know if Supreme will restock the shirt, that doesn’t mean you can’t still support the cause they’re rooting for by supporting Downtown for Democracy and organizations like it. Voting in this year’s midterm election is also crucial.
West Virginia’s election is tomorrow, Nov. 6. Find your polling location and check your voting status here. Not a WV resident? You can find this information on your state’s Secretary of State website.