COVID-19: Labor Camp Reports

2020 - Drawing & Print (Drawing & Print)

60.96 x 91.44 cm

Piotr Szyhalski


The series of ink drawings and hand-lettered texts, titled COVID-19: Labor Camp Reports , were made and posted daily by artist Piotr Szyhalski on the @LaborCamp Instagram account, capturing the politically fraught Trump era and looking directly at some of the most painful aspects of life during COVID-19. Accompanied by poignant captions written or chosen by the artist, this ongoing series, running for more than 100 days and still counting, operates as both a witness to the global health crisis and a record of the unprecedented moment experienced collectively. In the dozens of drawings, Szyhalski draws upon his personal collection of historical material, citing the compositions and graphic style of war-time politprop, religious pamphlets, military recruitment posters, and other forms of state and anti-state propaganda. Each poster is imbued with specific historical references, which are sometimes illustrated in the artist’s Instagram Stories on the day a new poster is finished.


Polish born artist Piotr Szyhalski was originally trained as a poster designer. In 1990 he moved to Boston, US to teach art. Often working under the name Labor Camp, Szyhalski’s work crosses through many different media, including painting, photography, drawing, installation), sound, interactive media art, and design. Labor Camp’s sensitivity to watershed historical events, and the relationship between the individual and political histories laid the groundwork for the COVID-19 Report series. When the national guard was mobilized in Minneapolis in the early summer of 2020, Szyhalski remembered all too well the crisis in Poland in the 1980s that led to the authoritarian government imposing martial law.


Colors:



Related works sharing similar palette

ArtsEquator’s Top 10 Picks at the Performing Arts Meeting 2019
© » ARTS EQUATOR

ArtsEquator's Top 10 Picks at the Performing Arts Meeting 2019 | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles José Maceda, Cassettes 100, 1971, Photo by Nathaniel Gutierrez, Courtesy of UP Center for Ethnomusicology and Ringo Bunoan January 10, 2019 Established in 1995, the Tokyo Performing Arts Market (TPAM) was created to be a platform to network Japanese artists with producers and funders...

Charles Baudelaire
© » KADIST

Mary Reid Kelley

2015

Kelley’s 2015 portrait of the poet Charles Baudelaire is one of a series of poets, rappers, and other thinkers who have influenced the artist’s ideas about beauty, creativity, and expression...

Weekly Picks: Indonesia (27 August – 2 September 2018)
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Weekly Picks: Indonesia (27 August - 2 September 2018) | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Uncategorized August 27, 2018 Top Picks of Indonesia art events in Yogyakarta and Jakarta from 27 August 2018 – 2 September 2018 The City of Yogyakarta is full of exciting events this week...

Being and Becoming: Of Femininities in the Malay World Through 50 Images (Seminars)
© » ARTS EQUATOR

Being and Becoming: Of Femininities in the Malay World Through 50 Images (Seminars) | ArtsEquator Skip to content A series of four seminars was presented by researchers behind Being and Becoming: Of Femininities in the Malay World Through 50 Images...

A walkthrough of If These Stones Could Sing
© » KADIST

A walkthrough of the exhibition If These Stones Could Sing February 7–April 21, 2018, KADIST San Francisco With Milena Bonilla, Public Movement, Arin Rungjang, Shitamichi Motoyuki, Emilija Škarnulyte, Sriwhana Spong...

Newly Discovered Oil Sketch By John Constable Fetches £200,000
© » ARTLYST

An newly attributed oil sketch by the renowned 19th-century English landscape painter John Constable has gone under the hammer in Guernsey...

Météo des forêts
© » SLASH PARIS

Météo des forêts — La MABA — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Météo des forêts — La MABA — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Météo des forêts Exhibition Film, installation, mixed media Upcoming Julien Prévieux et Virginie Yassef, L’Arbre, 2009 — Image : Élie Godard Film Super 8 transféré sur DVD — 7 min 18 — Ed 4 + 2 Courtesy des artistes Météo des forêts In about 1 month: January 18 → April 7, 2024 La MABA présente, du 18 janvier au 7 avril 2024, Météo des forêts : une exposition collective réunissant des travaux d’artistes de diverses générations travaillant différents médiums (dessin, photographie, vidéo, sculpture, installation…)...

Art Basel reveals 287 leading galleries and expanded city-wide program for its 2024 edition in Basel, Switzerland (News)
© » ARTEFUSE

Art Basel reveals 287 leading galleries and expanded city-wide program for its 2024 edition in Basel, Switzerland (News) - ArteFuse Art Basel reveals 287 leading galleries and expanded city-wide program for its 2024 edition in Basel, the first led by the show’s new Director Maike Cruse With 287 premier galleries from 40 countries and territories, Art Basel will once again bring together the international art world at its marquee fair in Basel, Switzerland...

Puff Piece
© » ARTNEWS CN

Puff Piece – ARTnews.com Skip to main content By Lilly Wei Plus Icon Lilly Wei author View All September 15, 2011 10:00am Xu Bing printing on whole tobacco leaves...

Decomposing Eternally
© » KADIST

George Pfau

2010

This work exemplifies George Pfau’s interest in zombies and liminal embodiment...

Protesters Call for Gaza Ceasefire at Art Basel Miami Beach
© » HYPERALLERGIC

Protesters Call for Gaza Ceasefire at Art Basel Miami Beach Skip to content Protesters installed a banner reading "Let Palestine Live" in front of Art Basel Miami...

You Make Me Iliad
© » KADIST

Mary Reid Kelley

2010

Situated in German-occupied Belgium at the end of World War I, Y ou Make Me Iliad by Mary Reid Kelley focuses on the story of two...

Mixed-Media in Focus:5 Group Exhibitions for 2024
© » AESTHETICA

Aesthetica Magazine - Mixed-Media in Focus: 5 Group Exhibitions for 2024 Mixed-Media in Focus: 5 Group Exhibitions for 2024 Textiles...

Looking Back reviewed in The Potrero View
© » PIER 24

Pier 24 Looking Back reviewed in The Potrero View - Pier 24 Looking Back reviewed in The Potrero View October 24, 2021 This month’s issue of The Potrero View featured a review of Looking Back by arts critic, Max Blue...

Crygasm
© » KADIST

Marco Rios

2010

This is a poignant and humorous self portrait that turns the camera on the artist’s own physical inability to cry...

Caroline Polachek gets festive with Bimba y Lola
© » DAZED DIGITAL

Caroline Polachek gets festive with Bimba y Lola | Dazed ⬅️ Left Arrow *️⃣ Asterisk ⭐ Star Option Sliders ✉️ Mail Exit Fashion Q+A Shot by Petra Collins, the singer is the face of the Spanish label’s latest Christmas campaign Bimba Y Lola 11 December 2023 Text Dazed Digital Bimba y Lola by Petra Collins featuring Caroline Polachek 6 Last year, Bimba y Lola enlisted photographer Petra Collins for its AW22 campaign...

Infinity and Infinity Plus One
© » KADIST

Cao Shu

2020

The installation Infinity and Infinity Plus One by Cao Shu is a modern fable of destruction, collective consciousness, and future memory told through the lens of a seaside hotel erected in the 1990s on an island in China...

White Series
© » KADIST

Ha Tae-Bum

2010

Ha Tae-Bum’s “White” series, started in 2008, begins with photographic images from the mainstream media depicting sites of conflict or crisis...

Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason’s Collection to Be Sold to Benefit Artists’ Foundations - via ARTnews
© » LARRY'S LIST

Works from their private collection are expected to sell for $4.6 million at Christie’s....