Eileen Kinsella – Epstein Files Reveal Correspondence with Artist Andres Serrano + Jo Lawson Tancred – Serrano Wants to Turn US Pavilion into A Trump Shrine in Venice
Andres Serrano. (foto Fotografiska New York | Tre Casseta)
Epstein Files Reveal Correspondence with Artist Andres Serrano
Law & Politics
Art News
In 2016, the Artist discussed His Feelings around the Presidential Election with the Disgraced Financier.
Among the Numerous Surprising and Bizarre Findings in the Just Released Epstein Files, Shared on the Website of the House Oversight Committee, Are At Least Two Direct Email Exchanges between Artist Andres Serrano and Convicted Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In an October 10, 2016, Email, Serrano Discussed the 2016 US Presidential Election and His Feelings about the “Outrage” At Trump s Sexist, Misogynistic Comments that at One Point, Threatened to Implode his Campaign. According to the Files, Serrano, Whose Email Address is Aedacted in the Published Correspondence, Wrote,
“Jeffrey,
I Was Prepared to Vote Against Trump for All the Right Reasons but I M So Disgusted by the Outrage over “Grab Them by the Pussy” that I May Give him My Sympathy Vote.
I M Sure Bill C Said Things, Too.
Andres”
Asked for Comment, Serrano Told Me over Email “Frankly, IHad Forgotten the Exchange with Jeffrey Epstein but Apparently I Said It. I Saw Donald Trump s Comment as Locker Room Talk and It s Hypocritical to Pretend that Men and Women don T Do It.”
Epstein Responded to Serrano s Email Just Minutes Later, On the Same Day, Writing, “No Good Choice, How Are U.”
Serrano Responded, “Either One I Guess,” Before Sharing that He had Just Returned from Ireland Where He Had A Show at the Time Titled, “Torture,” Which was Sponsored by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Presented at A Venue Called Void, in Derry.
The Description of the Show, Portions of Which were Included in the Email, Noted that Serrano s Work “Has Been Praised and Debated in Equal Measure Since the 1980 s and Has Raised Questions on Taste [and] Censorship.”
Serrano Was Acquainted with Epstein In the 1990 s When He Learned that A Statue He Coveted had Been Snapped Up by Epstein. In 2018, the Pair Agreed to A Trade, Serrano Would Photograph Epstein In Exchange for the Statue. In an Earlier Artnet Story Noting that Serrano Shot Epstein s Final Photo Portrait Just Months Ahead of his 2019 Death by Suicide in A Brooklyn Jail, the Artist is Reported as “Concerned about the Future of the US Art Scene, but Doesn T Necessarily Blame the President for the Current State of Affairs. He is More Worried about Artists and Arts Workers Growing Gun-Shy of Engaging with Controversial Subjects.”
“What I Fear is that A Wave of Self Censorship is Going to Occur,” He is Quoted in the Piece, “I See It Happening Already with the [Postponement of the] Philip Guston Exhibition.”
This Past Summer, Serrano Threw His Hat in the Ring for Consideration As the Selected Artist for the US Pavilion at the Upcoming Venice Biennale. He Had Proposed an Expansion of His Ongoing Project The Game, All Things Trump, A Collection of Trump Themed Memorabilia Largely Acquired from eBay For At Least $ 200.000.
In January 2022, Serrano Released A Film Titled Insurrection, On the Attack on the US Capitol in Washington, DC, that Had Taken Place Exactly One Tear Earlier. He Described It as Potentially Being “One of the Most Violent and Controversial Films Ever Made.”
Artnet News, November 14, 2025
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/epstein-files-andres-serrano-2713719
Rendering of Andres Serrano s US Pavillon Proposal for the 2026 Venice Biennale (fotoa Artist)
Andres Serrano Wants to Turn the US Pavilion into A Trump Shrine in Venice
The Artist Provocateur Said He would Invite the US President to Contribute to the Exhibition.
With the 61st Venice Biennale Set to Open in Under Ten Months, in May 2026, Many Participating Countries Have Already Announced Which Artist They Plan to Put on the Art World s Premier International Stage. The Status of the US Pavilion, However, Remains Undecided. As Hopefuls Compete for the Chance to Represent their Country, the Provocateur Andres Serrano Has Gone Public with A Flagrantly Trump Centric Proposal. Can He Win This Administration s Approval?
Serrano is Proposing to Stage an Installation that Would Expand on His Ongoing Project The Game, All Things Trump, A Collection of Trump Themed Memorabilia Largely Acquired from eBay For at Least $ 200.000. Some of these Items, Including the Short Lived Trump Steaks, Tabloid Clippings, MAGA Hats, and A Piece of the President s Wedding Cake, Were Debuted in A Pop-Up Exhibition in New York in 2019, During Trump’s First Term.
Andres Serrano, Donald Trump (2004) (foto Andres Serrano, courtesy Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris and Brussels)
The Show Later Toured to Small Exhibition Spaces in Europe and, Just Last Year, Trump Was Photographed At Mar A Lago Holding Up an Autographed Copy of Serrano s 2020 Catalogue Version of The Game. As Well As Images that Provide “A Portrait of the Media and Consumer Culture that Built the Trump Brand,” According to Artnet s Critic Ben Davis, the Book Features Essays by Art Historian Eleanor Heartney and Art Critic Jerry Saltz. The Latter Describes MAGA hats as the “American Swastika” and Trump As “One Sick Fuck.” Saltz Also Acknowledged, However, that Trump Supporters Would Likely Embrace The Game.
“If We Were Accepted We Could Ask the President If There was Something He Would Like to Contribute,” Serrano Said of His Pavilion Proposal. “We Are Talking Not about Merchandise or Even Art, but About Representation. Who Better to Fepresent America Than the President Himself?”
Too Partisan?
The New York-Born Artist, 74, is Famed for his Provocative Artworks, Including the “Blasphemous” Piss Christ (1987) Photo that Depicts A Crucifix Submerged in the Artist s Urine. The Game isn T Serrano s Only Work Related to the President that Echews A Clear Partisan Stance, Which Has Ruffled some Feathers. In 2022, A Theater in London Canceled A Screening of His Film Insurrection, about the January 6 Riots, Because They Deemed It to Be Too “Pro Trump.” The Artist Described These Charges As “Ridiculous,” Rebuffing Claims that He is A Trump Supporter by Stating, “I M As Much ‘Pro Trump’ as I am A Jesuit Priest.”
Despite His Apparent Shock over the Film s Cancellation, He Had Predicted that It Could Be “One of the Most Violent and Controversial Films Ever Made,” and Suggested that Trump Himself Would Like It. “The Film Can Be Seen in Many Ways,” he Said.
Still from Andres Serrano s Film Insurrection (foto Artist)
If the US State Department Picks Serrano s Proposal, He Plans to Include Insurrection in His Mew Mega Installation of The Game. He Has Also Promised that This Iteration of the Project will Be Site Specific, Making Full Use of the US s Stately Palladian Style Pavilion in Venice s Giardini. “We re Looking at It at as the Seat of Power, the Symbol of Authority, the President s House So to Speak,” he Said by Email.
The State Department is Currently Accepting Artists’ Submissions through July 30, With Plans to announce their Choice on September 1. This Will Buy the winnFact the Serrano s Proposal is Based on an Existing Body of Work, Practically Ready to Ship, Play in His Favor?
“I Don T Know How You Could Manage It,” Co Commissioner and Curator of the Previous US Pavilion, Kathleen Ash Milby, Told Vanity Fair in May. Could that Fact the Serrano S Proposal is Based on an Existing Body of Work, Practically Ready to Ship, Play in His Favor?
Changes to the US Pavilion s Plans
The Tight Timeline is Only One of Several Changes to the US s Biennale Strategy Since 2024, When Jeffrey Gibson Became the First Indigenous Artist to Have A Solo Exhibition in the US Pavilion.
Since January, Donald Trump s Second Term Has Proven Challenging for Artists and Arts Workers, Resulting in A Slew of Significant Funding Cuts, the End of Many DEI Initiatives, and Greater Scrutiny on Cultural Institutions. In Line with This Strategy, the US State Department has Issued Guidelines to Venice Hopefuls that Encourage “Works of Art that Reflect and Promote American Values.” Though These Values are Not Spelled Out, They Can Be Partially Inferred from the Simultaneous Ban on Submissions that “Operate Any Programs Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that Violate Any Applicable Anti Discrimination Laws.”
Abigail Winograd, Jeffrey Gibson, and Kathleen Ash-Milby Pose at the Entrance to the US Pavilion at the Giardini during the 60th Biennale Art 2024 on April 16, 2024 in Venice, Italy (foto Stefano Mazzola/ | Getty Images)
The Chosen Artist will Still Get Access to the Usual $ 375.000 in Federal Grant Money to Realize their Project, Thanks to the Biden Administration s Last Minute Approval of the US State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs s Budget. Unusually, However, Their Progress Will Be Monitored by the State Department, Which Plans to Carry Out “Site Vsits” to “Gather Additional Information on the Recipient S Ability to Properly Implement the Project.”
While Some Artists May Be Put Off by this Prospect, Plenty More are Battling It Out to Win One of the Contemporary Art World s Top Honors. A Handful Have Even Sought to Boost Their Chances by Making their Proposal Public. Most Memorably, the Far Right Blogger Curtis Yarvin Has Stated his Intention “To Trumpify the Venice Biennale” and “Convert the Libs” in A Largely AI Generated Promo Video, the Trolling Nature of Which was Recently Analyzed by Artnet s Ben Davis.
European News Reporter
Artnet News, July 22, 2025
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/andres-serrano-us-pavilion-venice-2669290
Meer informatie
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Eileen+Kinsella
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Jo+Lawson+Tancred
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Artnet+News
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Andres+Serrano
https://robscholtemuseum.nl/?s=Jeffrey+Epstein
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