Lorraine O’Grady’s “Art Is ..” featured in Biden-Harris post -election campaign

One Artist’s Vision Frames Biden’s Message on Unity

The Biden campaign approached the artist Lorraine O’Grady in August. Ms. O’Grady had used empty, golden frames to capture the joys of community togetherness at the 1983 African-American Day Parade in Harlem, framing the people as art. The performance was preserved in photographs.

Inspired by the kind of unity Ms. O’Grady’s project conveyed, the Democratic candidate’s campaign sought to borrow her concept for a similar message, intended to ease a divided nation. This is how, two months before the election, with Ms. O’Grady’s blessing, the campaign created a two-minute film. It landed on the internet on Saturday, shortly after the networks projected a victory for Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Kamala Harris.

The Biden film opens with a rendition of “America the Beautiful” by Ray Charles as the camera pans countryside vistas and the Philadelphia skyline. Person after person is captured inside the shiny frames as Americans celebrate the diversity of a country that includes musicians and fishermen, hairdressers and surfers.

-Zachary Small Read complete article NY Times Nov 11, 2020

From the Biden-Harris film