PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS BY SHANNON MCCORMICK
HISTORY IS WRITTEN BY THE WINNERS. THESE ARE THE LOSERS. Originally produced by Chicago’s fabled Neo-Futurists, the play 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, is a
chronological march through the 44 presidencies of our American history, some irreverent, some poignant. In the spring 2011, my company, Gnap! Theater Projects, was the first group invited by the playwriting team to participate in a festival of productions held nationwide for the upcoming election year.
Companies were also invited to think of other ways, apart from the production itself, to come up with buzz and audience outreach. My good friend, writer and publisher Wayne Alan Brenner, also happens to be the galleristat Austin’s Salvage Vanguard Theater, where we were producing our show Mulling it over I hit on the idea of having a portrait gallery devoted to all the people who ever lost a presidential election. Remembering the disaster of Gore v Bush in 2000 and my deflation after John Kerry’s loss in 2004, I realized there was an entire alternate history out there of all the obscure might-have-beens and never-weres, men (and let’s face it, they’re almost all men) who were once the second- or third-most PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
prominent politicians of their day and who had faded into the history books, as surely as Gore, and Kerry, and McCain, and Romney will fade. Through the spring of 2012, we assembled an amazing roster of 75contemporary artists. Each one submitted a portrait of a losing contender from each federal election, starting with the defeat of incumbent President John Adams in 1800. The show was, frankly, so strong that we wanted to give more people besides the couple of hundred who came to the gallery installation a chance to see it. As far as we know, a show like this has never been done before; the combination of 2012’s election-year politics and amazing artists made us pretty confident that there was an audience out there for this work in published form. Through the power of crowdfunding (yay Kickstarter!), you now hold this beautiful collectible in your hand, as well as a little piece of American history. Before you dive in, here are a few thoughts on how we selected the candidates for inclusion. We had offers from some artists to do portraits of people such as Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney’s father, George. While interesting historical and political figures these men were never on the ballot for a presidential election as the representative of his party. Including not just federal candidates but any individual who ever proclaimed the desire to become
president would have been logistically impossible for us, and would have posed great difficulties when contemplating both late 20th- and 21st-century methods of candidate selection (party primaries as a elective choice among declared candidates) and earlier methods of candidate selection (backroom wheeling and dealing among delegates at party conventions, with candidates modestly, and mostly falsely, proclaiming their disinterest in the nomination). So we had to go only with those figures who actually made it to that penultimate stage of a long climb: a nomination by a national party, and then defeat on a fateful first Tuesday of November.
role of how that election was thought about later; how it was understood. Think Perot in both 1992 and 1996. This formulation meant that we included Ralph Nader’s run in 2000, but not his bid in 2004. The only inclusion here that breaks that is Charlene Mitchell in 1968, our only female candidate, and an African-American Communist who didn’t much affect the outcome of that election, either electorally or narratively. Frankly, her artist was so keen on her inclusion that we went outside our own parameters. We hope we struck the right balance and that you won’t be too offended if your favored obscure political figure was not included.
But even then we were faced with deciding, well, which national parties make the cut? Even the most casual observer of American politics knows that our presidential elections feature a host of candidates from parties outside the usual Republicans and Democrats. Should we include them all? Again, this seemed like a logistical impossibility. But to tell the story of some elections— for example 1860, which saw the election of Abraham Lincoln and the advent of the Civil War—we needed to feature more than one losing candidate. We hit on the formula of including third-party candidates we deemed important to the understanding of that year’s election; these candidates wound up either winning some states’ electoral votes outright, or else played a pivotal
We started in 1800 with John Adams’s loss to Thomas Jefferson. We might have started four years earlier, when Adams bested Jefferson; but in that election, Jefferson’s second-place finish entitled him to the vice-presidency. It wasn’t until Adams’s 1800 attempt at a second term that partisan rancor and sophistication turned the presidential election into the high-stakes affair that we still know today. The personages in this book are a varied bunch. Many would have been disastrous presidents. Some might have been marvelous leaders who could have left our country and culture better off than it is now.
Most probably would have muddled along in the same compromised ways that the men who beat them did. We valorize winners in this country, but looking at these losers is a good reminder that for all of our lack of sophistication, we don’t demonize, punish, or ostracize those who came close—but not close enough—to capturing the highest office in the land. These men, with few exceptions, did not turn against the country that turned against them. Political passions cool and fade. Every four years we boil, but we don’t (the Civil War aside) erupt into insurrection. Ours is a raucous tradition, but ultimately stable. One might even say it is civilized, and if that is the case, the faces here are as much the faces of our civilization as those of the 43 men who beat them.
LOSER
J O H N A DA M S YEAR LOST
1800 PAGE
2
PARTY
WINNER
THOMAS JEFFERSON
FEDERALIST
BORN - DIED
1735
1826
ARTIST
K ENT M I C H A EL SMITH
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
CHARLES C. PICKNEY YEAR LOST
1804 PAGE
6
PARTY
WINNER
THOMAS JEFFERSON
FEDERALIST
BORN - DIED
1776
1850
ARTIST
DAW N S C HR E INER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
C H A R L E S CO TE S WO R TH P I C K N E Y YEAR LOST
1808 PAGE
8
PARTY
WINNER
JAMES MADDISON
FEDERALIST
BORN - DIED
1776
1850
ARTIST
C A M F L OY D
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
D E W IT T C L I NT O N YEAR LOST
1812 PAGE
10
PARTY
WINNER
JAMES MADDISON
FEDERALIST BORN - DIED
1769
1828
ARTIST
K ER RY AW N
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
RUFUS KING YEAR LOST
1816 PAGE
12
PARTY
WINNER
JAMES MONROE
FEDERALIST BORN - DIED
1755
1827
ARTIST
M A L AC HI WA R D
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
A N D R E W JAC K S O N YEAR LOST
1824 PAGE
14
WINNER
PARTY
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1767
1845
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS ARTIST
M AT T SENEC A
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
W I L L I A M H . C R AW F O R D YEAR LOST
1824 PAGE
16
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1772
1834
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS ARTIST
DAW N YO U N G S
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
DA N I E L W E B S TE R YEAR LOST
PARTY
1836 PAGE
30
WINNER
M A R T I N VA N B U R E N
WHIG BORN - DIED
1782
1852
ARTIST
M AC K W HITE
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
WILLIE MANGUM YEAR LOST
PARTY
1836 PAGE
32
WINNER
M A R T I N VA N B U R E N
WHIG BORN - DIED
1792
1861
ARTIST
BR I A N BEHM
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
M A R TI N VA N B U R E N YEAR LOST
1840 PAGE
34
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1782
1862
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON ARTIST
BUZ Z M O R A N
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
H E N RY C L AY YEAR LOST
PARTY
1844 PAGE
36
WINNER
JAMES K. POLK
WHIG
BORN - DIED
1777
1852
ARTIST
A ND ER S NIL SEN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
LEWIS CASS YEAR LOST
1848 PAGE
38
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1782
1866
Z A C H A R Y TAY L O R ARTIST
M I C H A EL OSBO R NE
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
M A R TI N VA N B U R E N YEAR LOST
1848 PAGE
40
PARTY
WINNER
FREE SOIL
BORN - DIED
1782
1862
Z A C H A R Y TAY L O R ARTIST
AMELIA WINGERBEARSKIN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
W I N F I E L D S CO T T YEAR LOST
PARTY
1852 PAGE
42
WINNER
FRANKLIN PIERCE
WHIG BORN - DIED
1782
1862
ARTIST
J EF F Z W IR EK
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
J O H N C . F R E M O NT YEAR LOST
1856 PAGE
44
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1813
1890
JAMES BUCHANAN ARTIST
M A RC EN G L I SH
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
JOHN C. BRECKINRIDGE YEAR LOST
1860 PAGE
48
PARTY
WINNER
SOUTHERN DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1821
1875
ABRAHAM LINCOLN ARTIST
G A R E T T YO U N G
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
JOHN BELL YEAR LOST
1860 PAGE
50
PARTY
WINNER
CONSTITUTIONAL UNION
BORN - DIED
1796
1869
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ARTIST
C O R INE L O PER F ID O
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
S TE P H E N A . D O U G L A S YEAR LOST
1860 PAGE
52
PARTY
WINNER
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1813
1861
ARTIST
A RO N TAY L O R
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
H O R ATI O S E Y M O U R YEAR LOST
1868 PAGE
56
PARTY
WINNER
U LY S S E S S . G R A N T
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1810
1886
ARTIST
PAT AU L I SI O
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
H O R AC E G R E E L E Y YEAR LOST
PARTY
1872 PAGE
58
WINNER
LIBERAL REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1811
1872
U LY S S E S S . G R A N T ARTIST
A L I F IT ZG ER A L D
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
S A M U E L J . TI L D E N YEAR LOST
1876 PAGE
60
PARTY
WINNER
R U T H E R F O R D B . H AY E S
DEMOCRATIC BORN - DIED
1814
1886
ARTIST
Z A K SA L LY
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
W I N F I E L D S CO T T H A N CO C K YEAR LOST
1884 PAGE
62
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1824
1886
JAMES A. GARFIELD ARTIST
K AC I BEEL ER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
JA M E S G . B L A I N E YEAR LOST
1884 PAGE
64
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1776
1850
GROVER CLEVELAND ARTIST
G R A H A M F R A N C I OSE
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
G R OV E R C L E V E L A N D YEAR LOST
1888 PAGE
66
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1837
1908
BENJAMIN HARRISON ARTIST
J IM RU G G
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
B E N JA M I N H A R R I S O N YEAR LOST
1892 PAGE
68
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1833
1901
GROVER CLEVELAND ARTIST
A ND R E I M O L O TIU
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
JA M E S B . W E AV E R YEAR LOST
PARTY
1892 PAGE
70
WINNER
POPULIST BORN - DIED
1833
1912
GROVER CLEVELAND ARTIST
SA M A NTH A S O PER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
W I L L I A M J E N N I N G S B RYA N YEAR LOST
1896 PAGE
72
PARTY
WINNER
WILLIAM MCKINLEY
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1860
1925
ARTIST
B OX BROW N
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
W I L L I A M J E N N I N G S B RYA N YEAR LOST
1900 PAGE
74
PARTY
WINNER
WILLIAM MCKINLEY
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1860
1925
ARTIST
JA S O N S T O U T
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
A LT O N B . PA R K E R YEAR LOST
1904 PAGE
76
PARTY
WINNER
T H E O D O R E R O O S E V E LT
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1852
1926
ARTIST
M A D I S O N S TR ATF O R D
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
W I L L I A M J E N N I N G S B RYA N YEAR LOST
1908 PAGE
78
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1860
1925
W I L L I A M H O WA R D TA F T ARTIST
J O N ATH A N F E T TERVO R M
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
TH E O D O R E R O O S E V E LT YEAR LOST
1912 PAGE
80
PARTY
WINNER
WOODROW WILSON
PROGRESSIVE BORN - DIED
1858
1919
ARTIST
BEN JA M IN M A R R A
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
W I L L I A M H OWA R D TA F T YEAR LOST
1912 PAGE
82
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1857
1930
WOODROW WILSON ARTIST
RUS SEL L E TC HEN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
E U G E N E V. D E B S YEAR LOST
PARTY
1912 PAGE
84
WINNER
WOODROW WILSON
SOCIALIST BORN - DIED
1855
1926
ARTIST
SH A NN O N M C C O R MI C K
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
C H A R L E S E VA N S H U G H E S YEAR LOST
1916 PAGE
86
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1862
1948
WOODROW WILSON ARTIST
J OSH M E Y ER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
JA M E S M . COX YEAR LOST
1920 PAGE
88
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1870
1957
WA R R E N G . H A R D I N G ARTIST
AV I H A R TM A N
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
J O H N W. DAV I S YEAR LOST
1924 PAGE
90
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC BORN - DIED
1873
1955
C A LV I N C O O L I D G E ARTIST
C R A I G S TAG G S
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
R O B E R T L A F O L L E T TE YEAR LOST
1924 PAGE
92
PARTY
WINNER
C A LV I N C O O L I D G E
PROGRESSIVE BORN - DIED
1855
1925
ARTIST
A N G EL I C A BR ENNER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
A L S M ITH YEAR LOST
1928 PAGE
94
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1873
1944
HERBERT HOOVER ARTIST
M I C H A EL F IF F E
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
H E R B E R T H O OV E R YEAR LOST
1932 PAGE
96
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1874
1964
F R A N K L I N D . R O O S E V E LT ARTIST
RO BER TA G R EG O RY
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
WENDELL WILLKIE YEAR LOST
1940 PAGE
100
PARTY
WINNER
F R A N K L I N D . R O O S E V E LT
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1892
1944
ARTIST
J OSH BAY ER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
TH O M A S E . D E W E Y YEAR LOST
1944 PAGE
102
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1902
1971
F R A N K L I N D . R O O S E V E LT ARTIST
DAV ID L A SK Y
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
TH O M A S E . D E W E Y YEAR LOST
1944 PAGE
104
PARTY
WINNER
HARRY S. TRUMAN
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1902
1971
ARTIST
WAY NE A L A N BR ENNER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
S TR O M TH U R M O N D YEAR LOST
1948 PAGE
106
PARTY
WINNER
HARRY S. TRUMAN
DIXIECRAT
BORN - DIED
1902
2003
ARTIST
L AU R EN W E IN S TE IN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
H E N RY A . WA L L AC E YEAR LOST
1948 PAGE
108
PARTY
WINNER
PROGRESSIVE
BORN - DIED
1888
1965
HARRY S. TRUMAN ARTIST
RO BER T FA IR E S
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
A D L A I S TE V E N S O N YEAR LOST
1952 PAGE
110
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRAT BORN - DIED
1900
1965
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER ARTIST
J O HN P O RC EL L IN O
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
A D L A I S TE V E N S O N YEAR LOST
1956 PAGE
112
PARTY
WINNER
DEMOCRATIC BORN - DIED
1900
1965
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER ARTIST
A IDA N KO C H
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
R I C H A R D N I XO N YEAR LOST
1960 PAGE
114
PARTY
WINNER
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1913
1994
J O H N F. K E N N E D Y ARTIST
TIM O TH Y D OY L E
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
B A R RY G O L DWATE R YEAR LOST
1964 PAGE
116
PARTY
WINNER
LY N D O N B . J O H N S O N
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1909
1998
ARTIST
M I C H A EL S C HL IEF K E
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
HUBERT HUMPHREY YEAR LOST
1968 PAGE
118
PARTY
WINNER
RICHARD NIXON
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1911
1978
ARTIST
DAV ID F U L L A R TO N
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
G E O R G E WA L L AC E YEAR LOST
1972 PAGE
120
PARTY
WINNER
AMERICAN INDEPENDENT BORN - DIED
1919
1998
RICHARD NIXON ARTIST
PAT SN OW
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
C H A R L E N E M IT C H E L L YEAR LOST
1968 PAGE
122
PARTY
WINNER
RICHARD NIXON
COMMUNIST
BORN - DIED
1930
ARTIST
DA NIEL L E MCCULLOUGH
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
G E O R G E M CG OV E R N YEAR LOST
1972 PAGE
124
PARTY
WINNER
RICHARD NIXON
DEMOCRATIC BORN - DIED
1922
2012
ARTIST
A NDY S T U R D E VA NT
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
GERALD FORD YEAR LOST
1976 PAGE
126
PARTY
WINNER
JIMMY CARTER
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1913
2006
ARTIST
SA M G A SK IN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
J I M M Y C A R TE R YEAR LOST
1980 PAGE
128
PARTY
WINNER
RONALD REAGAN
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1924
ARTIST
JA M E S G R EENE
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
JOHN B. ANDERSON YEAR LOST
1980 PAGE
130
PARTY
WINNER
RONALD REAGAN
INDEPENDENT
BORN - DIED
1922
ARTIST
R EG IN A B O U G U YO N
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
WA LTE R M O N DA L E YEAR LOST
1984 PAGE
132
PARTY
WINNER
RONALD REAGAN
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1928
ARTIST
A ND R E W M C C O R MI C K
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
MICHAEL DUK AKIS YEAR LOST
1988 PAGE
134
PARTY
WINNER
G E O R G E H .W. B U S H
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1933
ARTIST
L I SA C H O IN AC K Y
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
G E O R G E H .W. B U S H YEAR LOST
1992 PAGE
136
PARTY
WINNER
BILL CLINTON
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1924
ARTIST
PAU L M AY BU RY
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
ROSS PEROT YEAR LOST
1992 PAGE
138
PARTY
WINNER
BILL CLINTON
INDEPENDENT BORN - DIED
1930
ARTIST
WA R R EN C R AG HE A D
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
ROBERT DOLE YEAR LOST
1996 PAGE
140
PARTY
WINNER
BILL CLINTON
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1923
ARTIST
T O D D M E IN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
ROSS PEROT YEAR LOST
1996 PAGE
142
PARTY
WINNER
BILL CLINTON
REFORM
BORN - DIED
1930
ARTIST
R EG IN A A L L EN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
AL GORE YEAR LOST
2000 PAGE
144
PARTY
WINNER
G E O R G E W. B U S H
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1948
ARTIST
R I C K PA R K ER
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
R ALPH NADER YEAR LOST
2000 PAGE
146
PARTY
WINNER
G E O R G E W. B U S H
GREEN
BORN - DIED
1934
ARTIST
Y EH U D I M ER A D O
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
J O H N K E R RY YEAR LOST
2004 PAGE
148
PARTY
WINNER
G E O R G E W. B U S H
DEMOCRATIC
BORN - DIED
1943
ARTIST
DA N W IEK EN
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
J O H N M CC A I N YEAR LOST
2008 PAGE
150
PARTY
WINNER
BARACK OBAMA
REPUBLICAN
BORN - DIED
1936
ARTIST
L A N C E M Y ER S
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
LOSER
M IT T R O M N E Y YEAR LOST
2012 PAGE
152
PARTY
WINNER
BARACK OBAMA
REPUBLICAN BORN - DIED
1947
ARTIST
DAV ID O HL ER K IN G
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS John Adams (October 30, 1735–July 4, 1826) was the second president of the United States (1797–1801), having earlier served as the first vice president of the United States. An American Founding Father, he was a statesman, diplomat, and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain. He lost the election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson.
John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth President of the United States (1825–1829). He served as American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former President John Adams and Abigail Adams. As a diplomat, Adams played an important role in negotiating many international treaties, most notably the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. As Secretary of State, he negotiated with the United Kingdom over America’s
James G. Blaine northern border with Canada, negotiated with Spain the annexation of Florida, and authored the Monroe Doctrine. Historians agree he was one of the greatest diplomats and secretaries of state in American history. He was defeated by Andrew Jackson in the election on 1828.
(January 31, 1830 – January 27, 1893) was a politician from Maine who served as congressional representative, Speaker of the House, senator, and twice as secretary of state. He was nominated for president in 1884, but was narrowly defeated by Grover Cleveland.
John C. Breckinridge John B. Anderson (born February 15, 1922) was a congressional representative from Illinois. He was a Republican but ran as an independent candidate in 1980, when he lost to Ronald Reagan.
John Bell was a politician, attorney, and plantation owner. He served as a senator and congressional representative from Tennessee. He was also Speaker of the House, and briefly served as secretary of war during the administration of William Henry Harrison (1841). In 1860, he ran for president as the candidate for the Constitutional Union Party, which took a neutral stance on the issue of slavery. He lost to Abraham Lincoln.
was a lawyer and politician from Kentucky. He represented the state in both houses of Congress, and in 1857 became the fourteenth and youngestever vice president of the United States. He represented the Southern wing of the Democratic Party in the election of 1860, which was won by Abraham Lincoln.
William J. Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was a leading politician from the 1890s until his death. He served two terms as a congressional representative from Nebraska and was the 41st secretary of state under President Woodrow Wilson, taking a pacifist position on the World War. He was a dominant force in the populist wing of the Democratic
Lewis Cass Party, standing three times as its candidate for president of the United States (1896, 1900, and 1908). He was defeated twice by William McKinley and once by William Howard Taft.
George H. W. Bush was the 41st president of the United States (1989–1993). A Republican, he had previously served as the 43rd vice president of the United States (1981–1989), a congressional representative from Texas, an ambassador, and director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was defeated in 1992 by Bill Clinton
James E. “Jimmy” Carter, Jr (born October 1, 1924)was the 39th president of the United States (1977–1981) and was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. president to receive the prize after leaving office. Before he became president, Carter, a Democrat, was a peanut farmer, a U.S. Naval officer, and served two terms as a Georgia state senator and one as governor of Georgia. He was defeated in 1980 by Ronald Reagan.
(October 9, 1782 – June 17, 1866) was a military officer and politician. During his long political career, Cass served as a governor of the Michigan Territory, American ambassador, and senator from Michigan. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in 1848, when he lost to Zachary Taylor.
Henry Clay, Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) was a lawyer, politician, and skilled orator who represented Kentucky in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives. He served three terms as Speaker of the House and was also secretary of state. He lost his campaigns for president in 1824, 1832 and 1844, to John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and James K. Polk, respectively.
Stephen G. Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893– 1897), and is therefore the only individual to be counted
twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times, in 1884, 1888, and 1892. He lost the electoral vote in 1888 to Benjamin Harrison.
DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769 – February 11, 1828) was an early American politician and naturalist who served as senator and the sixth governor of New York. He was the Federalist nominee in 1812, losing to James Madison
John William Davis
Robert J. “Bob” Dole
(April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was a politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a congressional representative from West Virginia, then as U.S. Solicitor General and ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Woodrow Wilson. Davis was the Democratic nominee in 1924, losing to Republican incumbent Calvin Coolidge.
represented Kansas as both a congressional representative and a senator. In 1976, he was the Republican nominee for vice president and incumbent President Gerald Ford’s running mate. He was the Republican nominee for president in 1996, losing to Bill Clinton
Eugene Victor “Gene” Debs
(March 31, 1870 – July 15, 1957) was the 46th and 48th governor of Ohio, congressional representative from Ohio, and Democratic candidate for president of the United States in 1920. He was defeated by Warren G. Harding.
(November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), and several times the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party of America. He lost to Woodrow Wilson in the election of 1912.
William H. Crawford
Thomas E. Dewey
James Middleton Cox
(February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was a politician and judge during the early nineteenth century. He served as U.S. secretary of war and secretary of the Treasury, and one of four presidential candidates in 1824. All four fell short of the electoral majority needed to claim the office, which was decided by the House of Representatives in John Quincy Adams’s favor.
(March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was the 47th governor of New York. Dewey was the first presidential candidate to be born in the twentieth century. As of 2012, he was also the youngest Republican presidential nominee. He was the Republican candidate in 1944 and 1948, but lost both times, once to Franklin Roosevelt and once to Harry Truman.
Stephen A. Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was a congressional representative and a senator from Illinois, and one of two Democratic nominees for president in the 1860 election, losing to Republican Abraham Lincoln. Douglas had previously defeated Lincoln in a Senate race, noted for the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858.
Michael S. Dukakis (born November 3, 1933) (Greek: Μιχαήλ Δουκάκης) served as the 65th and 67th governor of Massachusetts. In 1988 he was the Democratic nominee, but lost to the Republican then vice president, George H. W. Bush.
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS Millard Fillmore
John Charles Frémont
(January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States (1850–1853), the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office. As Zachary Taylor’s vice president, he assumed the presidency after Taylor’s death. He ran in 1856 as the Know Nothing Party’s candidate, attempting to win a nonconsecutive second term as President. He lost to James Buchanan.
was a military officer, explorer, and the first presidential candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party. He became one of the first two senators elected from California in 1850. He lost the 1856 presidential election to Democrat James Buchanan when Democrats warned his election would lead to civil war.
Gerald R. “Jerry” Ford, Jr. was the 38th president of the United States (1974–1977). Prior to that, he was the 40th vice president of the United States. He was the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, after Spiro Agnew’s resignation. When Ford became president upon Richard Nixon’s resignation on August 9, 1974, he became the first and to date only person to have served as both vice president and president of the United States without being elected by the Electoral College. He was defeated in 1976 by Jimmy Carter.
Albert A. “Al” Gore, Jr. born March 31, 1948) is a politician, advocate, and philanthropist, who served as the 45th vice president of the United States under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic nominee in 2000, and lost to George W. Bush despite winning the popular vote.
Barry M. Goldwater
Winfield S. Hancock
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909[1] – May 29, 1998) was a businessman and five-term senator from Arizona, and the Republican nominee for president in the 1964 election. He lost to Lyndon Johnson in a landslide.
(February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a career U.S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee in 1880. He lost to James A. Garfield.
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was a newspaper editor, founder of the Liberal Republican Party, reformer, politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery. He was the new Liberal Republican Party’s candidate, as well as the Democrats’, in the 1872 election. He lost to Ulysses S. Grant in a landslide, and is the only presidential candidate to have died prior to the counting of electoral votes.
Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd president of the United States (1889–1893). Harrison was a grandson of President William Henry Harrison. He was defeated in his re-election bid in 1892 by Grover Cleveland, whom he had defeated four years prior
William H. Harrison (February 9, 1773 – April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States (1841), a military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. Harrison died on his 32nd day in office of complications from pneumonia, serving the shortest tenure in U.S. presidential history. Four years previously, Harrison had been the Northern Whig candidate for president in 1836, the only time in American history that a major political party intentionally ran more than one presidential candidate. He and his fellow Whigs lost to Martin Van Buren.
Herbert C. Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States (1929–1933). He served as the U.S. secretary of commerce in the 1920s under presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. He was defeated in a landslide by Franklin Roosevelt in 1932
Charles E. Hughes, Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was a statesman, lawyer, and politician from New York. He served as the 36th governor of New York, associate justice and 11th chief justice of the
Supreme Court, secretary of state, and a judge on the Court of International Justice. He was the Republican candidate in the 1916 election, losing narrowly to Woodrow Wilson
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was the 38th vice president of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a senator from Minnesota, and also served as Democratic majority whip. Humphrey was the Democratic nominee in 1968 but lost to the Republican nominee, Richard Nixon.
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States (1829–1837). In his first bid for the presidency in 1824, Jackson received the most popular votes—but not a majority, and four states had no popular ballot. The electoral votes were split four ways, with Jackson having a plurality. Because no candidate received a majority, the election was decided by the House of Representatives, which chose John Quincy Adams.
Rufus King (March 24, 1755 – April 29, 1827) was a lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. He represented New York in the Senate, served as Minister to Britain, and was the Federalist candidate for vice president in 1804 and 1808 and for president in 1816, when he was defeated by James Monroe.
George B. McClellan from Wisconsin, and was also governor of Wisconsin. He ran for president as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in 1924, carrying Wisconsin and 17% of the national popular vote, but lost to Calvin Coolidge.
Alfred M. Landon, aka Alf Landon (September 9, 1887 – October 12, 1987), was the 26th governor of Kansas. He was best known for having been the Republican nominee in 1936, when he was defeated in a landslide by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943)is the 68th and current U.S. secretary of state. He served as a senator from Massachusetts, and was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry was the Democratic nominee in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to Republican incumbent George W. Bush.
Robert M. “Fighting Bob” La Follette, Sr. (June 14, 1855 – June 18, 1925) was a Republican (and later a Progressive) politician. He served as a congressional representative and senator
(February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was a major general during the Civil War and the Democratic nominee in 1864. He ran as an active-duty U.S. Army general; he did not resign his commission until Election Day, November 8, 1864. He lost to Abraham Lincoln.
George S. McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was a historian, author, congressional representative and senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic nominee in 1972. He lost to Richard Nixon in a landslide.
Willie P. Mangum (May 10, 1792 – September 7, 1861) was a senator from North Carolina. He was one of the founders and leading members of the Whig party, and was its candidate for president in 1836, losing to Martin Van Buren.
John S. McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is a senator from Arizona. He was a prisoner of war in Vietnam from 1967 to 1973. He was the Republican nominee in 2008, losing to Barack Obama.
Charlene A. Mitchell (born c. 1930) is an AfricanAmerican international socialist, feminist, and labor and civil rights activist. Formerly a member of the Communist Party USA, she now belongs to the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. As the Communist Party candidate in the 1968 election (which she lost to Richard Nixon), Mitchell was the first African-American woman to run for president of the United States.
PRESIDENTIAL LOSERS Walter F. “Fritz” Mondale (born January 5, 1928) was a senator from Minnesota and the 42nd vice president of the United States under President Jimmy Carter. He was the Democratic nominee in 1984, losing to Ronald Reagan.
Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is a political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney. Nader is a five-time candidate for president, having run as a writein candidate in the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic primary, as the Green Party nominee in 1996 and 2000 (losing to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush), and as an independent candidate in 2004 and 2008 (losing to George W. Bush and Barack Obama).
Richard M. Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States (1969–1974), when he became the only president to resign the office. Nixon had previously served as a congressional representative and senator from California and as the 36th vice president of the United States. He lost the 1960 election to John F. Kennedy.
Alton Brooks Parker (May 14, 1852 – May 10, 1926) was a judge, best known as the conservative Democrat who lost the election of 1904 to incumbent Theodore Roosevelt in a landslide.
Henry Ross Perot (born June 27, 1930) is a businessman best known for being an Independent Party presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996, losing both times to Bill Clinton.
Charles Cotesworth “C. C.” Pinckney (February 25, 1746 – August 16, 1825), was an early statesman of South Carolina, Revolutionary War veteran, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He was nominated by the Federalist Party as their presidential candidate in 1804 and 1808, but did not win either election, losing to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison respectively.
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is a businessman and politician who served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts. He was the Republican nominee in 2012, losing to Barack Obama.
Theodore “T.R.” Roosevelt, Jr. (October 27, 1858—January 6, 1919) was the 26th president of the United States (1901–1909). Roosevelt was 42 years old when sworn in as president in 1901, making him the youngest president ever. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the first incarnation of the short-lived Progressive (“Bull Moose”) Party of 1912. He lost the 1912 election to Woodrow Wilson.
Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786 – May 29, 1866) was a U.S. Army general. He served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army for twenty years, longer than any other holder of the office. He was the Whig Party candidate in 1852, when he lost to Franklin Pierce.
Alfred E. “Al” Smith
James S. Thurmond
George C. Wallace Jr.
Daniel Webster
Hugh Lawson White
(December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was elected governor of New York four times and was the Democratic candidate in 1928, losing to Herbert Hoover. He was the first Roman Catholic nominee for president.
(December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) served for 48 years as a senator from South Carolina, first as a Democrat and, after 1964, as a Republican. He ran for president in 1948 as the States’ Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrat) candidate, receiving 2.4% of the popular vote and 39 electoral votes and losing to Harry S. Truman.
(August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was the 45th governor of Alabama. In 1968 he ran as a third-party candidate, losing to Richard Nixon.
(January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was a leading statesman during the period leading up to the Civil War. During his 40 years in national politics, Webster served in the House of Representatives for 10 years (representing New Hampshire), in the Senate for 19 years (representing Massachusetts), and was appointed secretary of state under three presidents. In 1836, the only time in American history when a major political party intentionally ran more than one presidential candidate, he won the electoral votes for Massachusetts. He and his fellow Whigs lost to Martin Van Buren.States Secretary of State under three presidents. In 1836, the only time in American history when a major political party intentionally ran more than one presidential candidate, he won the electoral votes for Massachusetts. He and his fellow Whigs lost to Martin Van Buren.
(October 30, 1773 – April 10, 1840) was a prominent politician during the first third of the 19th century. He succeeded Andrew Jackson in the U.S. Senate, representing Tennessee from 1825 until his resignation in 1840, and was a Whig candidate for president in 1836, when he and his fellow Whigs lost to Martin Van Buren.
Adlai E. Stevenson II (February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was a politician, noted for his intellectual demeanor, eloquent oratory, and promotion of liberal causes in the Democratic Party. He served as the 31st governor of Illinois, and was the Democratic nominee in 1952 and 1956; both times he was defeated by Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination for a third time in 1960, but was defeated by Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts.
Horatio Seymour (September 9, 1887 – October 12, 1987), was the 18th governor of New York. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1868, but lost to Republican and former Union General of the Army Ulysses S. Grant.
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and later the tenth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He is the only person to have served in both of these offices. He lost his re-election bid in 1912 to Woodrow Wilson.
Samuel Jones Tilden (February 9, 1814 – August 4, 1886) was the 25th governor of New York and the Democratic candidate in the disputed election of 1876, one of the most controversial American elections of the nineteenth century. The election was decided in the favor of Rutherford B. Hayes.
Martin Van Buren (December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States (1837–1841). Before his presidency, he was the eighth vice president and the tenth secretary of state, both under President Andrew Jackson. He was defeated in 1840 by William Henry Harrison. In 1848 Van Buren ran unsuccessfully on a third-party ticket, the Free Soil Party.
Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was the secretary of agriculture, 33rd vice president of the United States, and the secretary of commerce. In the 1948 election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party and lost to Harry S. Truman.
James Baird Weaver (June 12, 1833 – February 6, 1912) was a congressional representative, representing Iowa as a member of the Greenback Party. He ran for president twice on third-party tickets in the late nineteenth century. He is best known as the nominee of the People’s Party (commonly known as the Populists) in the 1892 election, when he lost to Grover Cleveland.
Wendell L. Willkie (February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was a corporate lawyer who became the Republican Party presidential nominee in 1940. His opponent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, won the election with 55% of the popular vote and 85% of the electoral vote.
William Wirt (November 8, 1772 – February 18, 1834) was an author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of U.S. Attorney General into one of influence. He ran for president in 1832 as the candidate of the Anti-Masonic party, losing to Andrew Jackson.
ARTISTS Tiffany Adams Is a marketing professional employed by the American Bar Association in Chicago. She dedicates her free time to illustration and design projects commissioned by national institutions and nonprofit organizations. Visit www. cheerupbuttercup.com in January to view the launch of Tiffany’s textile collection.
Regina Allen grew up in Nashville, TN and has an MFA in painting from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She currently lives in Austin with her husband, writer Neal Pollack, and their son, and she teaches design and Arts Appreciation at Central Texas College in Killeen. The primary inspiration for Regina’s work is vintage textile design and the rich historical backdrop these antique patterns suggest, both visually and conceptually. Into these patterns and shapes she weaves reoccurring favorite images drawn from various personal interests such as ecology, cartology, mythology, and biology, creating a sort of whimsical, abstracted “landscape”. Once
Kaci Beeler
Angelica Brenner
Warren Craghead III
Mikel Durlam
she begins to achieve something she likes, she incorporates figurative elements, usually line drawings that interact with these landscapes. These figures come from multiple sources referencing history, pop culture, or other art. She strives to create a narrative that feels iconic and familiar, while also being surprising and alluring, and sometimes discomfiting. www.reginaallen.com
Is a painter, improviser, actor, and designer who lives and works in Austin, Texas. Kaci has toured nationally and internationally to perform improvised theatre and is the Director of Design at The Hideout Theatre in Austin. Artistically, she is probably best known for her realistic depictions of food and her imaginative and diverse scenic paintings. www.kacibeeler.com
Is an artist living in Austin, Texas.
is a visual artist and musician originally from Iowa and living in Brooklyn, NY. In the fall of 2012, he is Artist-in-Resident at Novia University in Finland. www. mikeldurlam.com
critics. He has also worked on more than 55 stage productions across the city as an actor, director, and writer. He has a degree in Studio Art from the University of Texas.
Marc English
Jonathan Fetter Vorm
Pat Aulisio
Brian Behm
Rips space and time as a hobby. his other hobbies include mismanaging time travel, looking into alternate dimensions with his third eye, and drawing comics. www. patmakesdrawings.com
Is an artist and graphic designer living in Austin, Texas.
lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA with his wife and two daughters. He likes to make pictures and has exhibited his work internationally. He has also published many works including the Xeric Grant winning Speedy and several collaborations with poets and writers, one of which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2006. He received an MFA in 1996 from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 1993, and attended the Skowhegan School in 1993.
is a design shaman who’s created some of the best, works with some of the brightest, and continues to ply his accomplished trade and teaches others the way of graphic rightesouness when not traveling the world by train, plane, or camel ~ or journeying these United States on the back of a beautiful mororcycle. www. marcenglishdesign.com
was born and raised in Montana. He graduated from Stanford University in 2006 and shortly thereafter, while living in San Francisco, he entered into an apprenticeship to learn the time-honored arts of letterpress printing and hand-bookbinding. It was during that time that he and a fellow Montanan formed the publishing outfit known as the Two Fine Chaps, makers of fine and illuminating picture books. Jonathan now lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he writes and draws graphic novels. Trinity, about the building of the first atomic bomb, is his first book. www.fetter-vorm.com
Kerry Awn Artist, comedian, singer/ songwriter, rock farmer. Austin Arts Hall of Fame, FPIA, Uranium Savage and keeper of the 709 flame. Currently painting illegal murals in Bee Cave.
Josh Bayer www.joshbayerart.com
Regina Bouguyon Is a maker of things. Mainly those things are drawings, paintings, handmade books and a mix of the three in the shape of an installation. She received a BFA in Painting from the School of Visual Arts. Having had participated in solo and group shows all over the U.S., she is currently living and working in New York, where you can find her drinking coffee and waiting for Halloween. www. reginabouguyon.blogspot.com
Wayne Alan Brenner is the co-curator of this exhibition and a longtime writer/ editor at The Austin Chronicle.
Box Brown of Retrofit Comics is an Ignatz Award-winning American cartoonist best known for the comic Bellen!. He’s up there in Philadelphia. www.boxbrown.com
Lisa Choinack Was born in South Bend, Indiana. She attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and received her M.F.A. from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where she founded the community art group, Tricycle Shop, that focused on mail art and audience participation art happenings. Choinacky now lives and works in Austin, Texas, managing Women & Their Work. www.austinvideobee.com/ LisaChoinacky
Eva Claycomb www.fancyspecial.tumblr.com
L.B. Deyo is the author of Invisible Frontier: Exploring the tunnels, ruins & rooftops of hidden New York, co-founder of Jinx multimedia, and editor of Jinx magazine.
Tim Doyle originally from Plano (accident of birth, not his fault), lives in Austin and runs the internationally acclaimed graphic powerhouse of Nakatomi, Inc., like a boss – because, besides being the main artist there, he is the boss. www.mrdoyle.com
Russell Etchen lives in Austin, Texas.
Robert Faires is Arts Editor for The Austin Chronicle, where he’s been covering the local arts for 25 years. His writing has won awards from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, and American Theatre Magazine named him to a list of 12 of the nation’s most influential theatre
Ali Fitzgerald
Michel Fiffe is the creator and publisher of his one-man anthology Zegas as well as the recent bootleg comic Deathzone! You can see more art, comics, essays and upcoming projects at www. michelfiffe.com
was born in 1983 in Oakland California, and traveled extensively as a small child, thanks to her mother’s career as a naval officer. She has lived in California, Japan, Maryland, Virginia, both Carolinas, Granada, Spain, Austin, Texas and now lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Ali received her Master’s of Fine Arts from UT in 2007 and taught Drawing and Painting there from 20072008. She is represented by Art Palace, in Austin Texas. www. alifitzgerald.net
Cam Floyd is a freelance illustrator and artist living in Los Angeles. Like an assemblage of visual languages, Floyd brings together his diverse influences through a mixed-media approach to create dynamic and dreamlike images of abstract figures and alien landscapes. His interests include printmaking, computer graphics, the Northern Renaissance, burritos and the space-time continuum, among many others facets of life. When not chained to his drawing table he likes to hike, surf, read, and make music. www.camfloyd.com
ARTISTS Graham Franciose was born and raised in the forests of rural Massachusetts to a very loving and creative family. Always drawing and doodling, it was clear early on that he had a passion for artistic expression. Franciose graduated with a BFA in Illustration from the Hartford Art School in 2005. He has exhibited his work non-stop since then across the United States and overseas and has been published in various art publications and children’s educational books, as well as a variety of commercial illustration work. He is represented by The Austin Art Garage (Austin TX), The Shop (New Orleans, LA), and Art Whino (National Harbor MD). www.grahamfranciose.com
David Fullarton is a Scottish-born, San Francisco-based visual artist and a man with very low expectations. He is therefore seldom disappointed and lives a life filled with boundless joy. He has spent most of his somewhat checkered artistic career attempting to create a piece of artwork that doesn’t have words written on it. So far he has failed
dismally. In his leisure time he enjoys a variety of smoked cheeses despite lingering doubts about their textures. Perhaps his most prized talent is his uncanny ability to stay out of the way. Like many other people he maintains a website whose address is his name with .com at the end.
Sam Gaskin lives and works in Northampton, MA. www.samgascan.tumblr.com
Deiter Geisler is an Austin-based artist who works in so many diverse media that the writer of this bio (NB: not Geisler) is shaking his head in disbelief. www.dietergeisler. com
James Greene Originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, James Greene drew cartoons for his high school and college newspapers and produced his own comic books, which he Xeroxed and distributed in ‘zine form. He earned his BFA in Studio Art from the University of Northern Iowa in 2001 and his MFA in Printmaking at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 2006. James’ research interests
include American cultural values and finding meaning in a culture that seems to have exchanged higher values for lower ones. His printed works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the US, Poland and India and appear in several national collections. He currently has a number of comic book projects in the works. In May of 2012, James and writer Ben Kubczak self-published their first graphic novel entitled Salvaged Horizon. He lives and teaches in Jacksonville, FL with his wife and two sons. www. valuistics.com.
Roberta Gregory has been prominent in Indy/ underground comics since the 1970s. She is best known for her notorious Bitchy Bitch character, international star of comic books and collections, stage and animated cartoons. Currently, Roberta’s projects include True Cat Toons and Mother Mountain: her most recent solo book is Follow Your Art and in 2012 her work appeared in the anthologies The Graphic Canon: Volume One and No Straight Lines. www. robertagregory.com
Avi Hartman
Corinne Loperfido
is an actor and an artist and a general bad-ass in the urban wilds of Austin, Texas.
is an artist and graphic designer based in New Orleans, LA. When she is not working on graphic design for her clients, she can be found bounce dancing (or teaching bounce dance lessons) with sissy rapper from New Orleans, collaborating on large scale installations with her art partners, making elaborate costumes for Mardi Gras or interactive performances, DJing and planning epic parties and generally making the world the best place on earth. www. corinneloperfido.com
Publication Designers, 3x3 and American Illustration. In 2006 he was named one of the Art Directors Club’s Young Guns. His clients include Playboy, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Vice, Nylon, Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Widen+Kennedy and McCannErickson. He’s been the interview subject of GQ, Vice and Obey. He’s contributed to the comic anthologies Strange Tales II, Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies, Smoke Signal, and Rub The Blood. www.benjaminmarra.com.
Benjamin Marra
Paul Maybury
is the controversial, notorious and influential creator of the successful underground comic books Night Business, Gangsta Rap Posse, The Incredibly Fanastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd, and Lincoln Washington: Free Man! Marra’s comic book work has drawn comparison to mainstream masters Paul Gulacy and Jim Steranko along with underground comix legends, like Robert Crumb and Spain Rodriguez. Marra’s illustration work has been recognized by The Society of Illustrators, The Society of
is an award-winning artist and writer whose work has been featured by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Heavy Metal, Ubisoft, Metro, Image Comics, Criterion, Wholefoods and Fast Company. He lives in Austin, Texas. www. paulmaybury.com
Jennymarie Jemison is an actress (The Quiet Girl’s Guide to Violence) and a graphic designer living in Austin, Texas. www.jennymariejemison.com
Aidan Koch is an illustrator based in Portland, Oregon. She has released numerous selfpublished comics and is interested in the progressive and experimental nature of the medium. www.aidankoch.com
David Lasky Seattle artist David Lasky has been writing and drawing comics for over 20 years. He’s created a number of critically acclaimed comic books, including a nine page mini-adaptation of Joyce’s Ulysses, eight issues of Boom Boom Comics, two issues of the award-nominated Urban Hipster, and numerous short comics for anthologies including The Best American Comics 2011. In collaboration with Frank Young, he has created a graphic novel about country music’s Carter Family, which debuts this fall. www.dlasky.livejournal.com
Andrew McCormick The brother of curator Shannon McCormick is a better known as an educator and sculptor – especially in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he lives.
Shannon McCormick
Todd Mein
is the co-curator of this exhibition, the artistic director of Gnap! Theater Projects, and is frequently onstage in Austin and onscreen everywhere. www.gnaptheater.org
is a visual and performance artist, painter, musician, improviser, art teacher, collaborative organizer, and business, man. www. meandtodd.com
Danielle McCullough
Yehudi Mercado
lives and works in Los Angeles. She has recently exhibited work at den contemporary in Los Angeles, The Do Right Hall in Marfa TX, Appels Gallery in Amsterdam, and the High Desert Test Sites in Joshua Tree, CA. She is the recipient of awards from the Creative Capacity Fund, Vermont Studio Center, and Change, Inc, and is the co-founder/assistant managing editor of Los Angeles Art Resource. McCullough works across a variety of media including painting, textile, cyanotype, and installation. She comes from a long line of quilters and stonemasons, and her present body of work pieces together industrial textile waste into roughly-hewn, dissolving grids, bandaged together with primary color, resulting in ravaged paintings and lively ruins of abstraction. www. daniellemccullough.net
is an animator/writer/illustrator. His first graphic novel, Buffalo Speedway, is about pizza delivery drivers. His most recent book, Pantalones, TX, about troublemaking kids in a tiny Texas town, was published by Archaia. www. supermercadocomics.com
Josh Meyer is an actor and theatremaker living in Los Angeles. Recently he reprised his role on a TV show about teenage girls with plenty of secrets and appearing in an Off-Broadway adaptation of The Bacchae. www. hereliesjosh.com
Andrei Molotiu is an artist and art historian living in Bloomington, Indiana. He is the author of Fragonard’s Allegories of Love. Nautilus, a collection of his abstract comics, was released in 2009 from Danish publisher Fahrenheit. He edited Abstract Comics: The Anthology, published by Fantagraphics.
ARTISTS Buzz Moran
Anders Nilsen
Rick Parker
Chantelle Rodriguez
Matt Seneca
is a sound designer and audio engineer, mainly, although much acclaimed as the originating Foley artist for the touring Intergalactic Nemesis stage show. The dapper fellow (NB: He’s single, ladies) is also Chairman of the long-running monthly Dionysium at the Alamo Drafthouse.
is the author and artist of the graphic novels Big Questions, The End, and Dogs and Water, among others. He is the recipient of the 2012 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel prize as well as three Ignatz awards. His work has been translated into numerous languages and his drawing and painting has been shown internationally. www. andersbrekhusnilsen.com
is probably best known as the artist of MTV’s Beavis and ButtHead Comic Book. He was also on staff at Marvel Comics for many years and did lettering and production work in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Currently drawing the Introductory pages featuring the Old Witch, The Vault Keeper and the Crypt Keeper for Jim Salicrup’s new release of Tales From The Crypt published by PaperCutz. He also writes and draws a morbidly humorous web comic called “Deadboy”, which follows the adventures of a troubled but misunderstood youth as he fights his way across a surrealistic, nightmarish landscape inhabited by violence-prone zombies and all manner of other creatures too numerous to mention.
graduated with a BFA in Printmaking from Texas State University in 2009. Texas born and an Austin native her preferred method of art making is collage and experimental digital media. She’s shown at galleries all over Austin including Co-Lab Project Space and Women & their Work. www. crobjective.wordpress.com
is a comic book artist and writer living in New York, from where he publishes his line of Very Fine Comix. http://mattseneca.tumblr.com/
Lance Myers is a professional artist, writer, filmmaker, and rock star working in Austin, Texas. Over the course of his preposterous 16-year career he has shipped over fifteen successful video game titles, authored thirteen award-winning animated short films, contributed artwork and animation to five feature films, written one novella, opened for Ice Cube, and consumed over thirty breakfast tacos. He now lives in South Austin with his wife, Beth, and three mighty children. www.lancefever.com
David Ohlerking is an itinerant painter currently based in Philadelphia, PA. www.davidohlerking.com
Michael Osborne I have Cherokee blood in my veins. I am forth and fifth generation ~ both sides of my family, respectively ~ Native American Cherokee. This portrait is my only revenge against a key executor of what is arguably one of the most regrettable episodes in American history. I am sincerely grateful for the serendipitous discovery of Mr. Cass, as well as for the opportunity to render his portrait befittingly.
John Porcellino is the Ignatz-winning man behind the long-running KingCat Comics empire. www.kingcat.net
Jim Rugg is an American cartoonist and illustrator from Pittsburgh known for his tongue-in-cheek evocation of 1970s-era comics and pop culture. His graphic novels and comics collections include Street Angel, Afrodisiac, The P.L.A.I.N. Janes and Janes in Love, One Model Nation, and The Guild. www.jimrugg.com
Zak Sally is a bassist and a comic artist. He was formerly the bassist for the bands Low and Enemymine (with Mike Kunka of godheadSilo). He is native of Duluth, Minnesota, currently owns and operates his own press, La Mano, in Minneapolis. Sally is also a comics art professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. www. zaksally.com
only grew throughout the years. Samantha graduated from UT in 2008 with a Bachelors in Advertising, but has recently turned her eye to less commercial forms of art.
Michael Schliefke is a painter who has lived in Austin for ten years. After a brief hiatus from painting, he has spent the last two years working on multiple series of paintings that reside in his anonymous central Austin studio. www.schliefkevision.com
Dawn Schreiner lives in Maitland, Florida. She paints or draws a daily doodle on Facebook: www.facebook. com/pages/Dawn-SchreinerIllustration/93560914165 and has a website at www. dawnschreiner.com and likes to meet new people. Come join the doodles and say “hello.”
Samantha J. Soper spent the first ten years of her life in New Orleans, the city’s blues music and art weaving themselves into her life from birth. Art came very naturally to her at a very young age and her insatiable appetite to create and experiment with new mediums
Amber W. Smith lives in Portland, Oregon, with her cat, Cabbage Cabbage. www.amberwsmith.com
Kent Michael Smith The painter Kent Michael Smith lives and works in Prairie Village, Kansas. www. kentmichaelsmith.com
Pat Snow was born in Birmingham Alabama and raised in Anniston, Alabama and currently works in Austin, TX, Birmingham Alabama and New York City. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Alabama with a major in Painting. He went on to receive his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona in 1993 in Painting and Drawing. While at the University of Arizona he studied with Robert Colescott and Louis Jimenez. He furthered his art education with a residency at the Millay Colony
in upstate New York in 1994. He has lectured about his art at Tulane University, Vanderbilt University, and Georgetown and has been showing his art professionally for twenty years and has shown his art nationally and internationally. His recently won a Fellowship/Grant from the Alabama State Council on the arts for his work and the Birmingham Museum of Art purchased a work of art of his for its permanent collection. www.patsnow93.com
Craig Staggs is an independent animator, illustrator, writer and film maker. He is the co-founder and Director of Animation at Aphid Animation. Craig is also launching a new studio called Minnow Mountain to make and distribute original content. At 15 Craig was drawing caricatures at Houston’s Astroworld amusement park. The people he’s drawn caricatures of could fill a stadium. In the late 90’s Craig came to Austin and began to produce theater with Shirk Worker’s Union ~ an underground theater group producing experience theater in alternative spaces. He won Austin Critic’s Table Awards for Another Evening with
Dottie P. and for his program design for the long-running Tower Massacre Musical. After working for Richard Linklater on the feature film A Scanner Darkly, Craig began his animation career in earnest. Starting a company, and developing original content. He is now in production on Earp, an animated western epic web show.
Madison Stratford was born in Phoenix, Arizona and currently lives and works in Austin, Texas. She received a BFA in Print and Sculpture from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle Washington in 2007, in addition to having studied Sculpture at Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne Australia in 2006. Her work has received write-ups in Seattle’s The Stranger alternative weekly and has been shown in both Seattle and Phoenix. She is currently teaching Sculpture for an outreach art program in underserved areas.
Jason Stout
Aron Taylor
Lauren Weinstein
Amelia W. Bearskin
(1969 - ?) Creative Director at The Austin Chronicle. Has worked in illustration + design + animation + music for some time now. Loving husband and father. Accomplished laundry folder. Who the hell cares? William Jennings Bryan was a true humanitarian who worked tirelessly for Popular Democracy and Peace before he blew his cred in his last years as an opponent of Darwinism. He had the usual religious issues with evolution, but really, I think it came down to the idea of survival of the fittest. He did not hold with the notion of weaker folks being left behind. Remarkable, no?
At age eight I became a man. My dad took his boys to road trip the west coast. My brother slept up front. I spread out in back. Speeding through Oregon we smashed into the back of a 16-point elk. It should’ve killed us. The windshield caved, spraying my father’s face and knuckles with elk shit, blood, and safety glass. A side mirror whizzed over our sleeping heads. Something flew into the back seat, flopping right onto my cheek. ‘Twas the elk’s dick. www.arontaylor.com
is a cartoonist who is still recovering from having a baby and moving to the suburbs of New Jersey (it’s been two years). Her comics books include, Girl Stories and The Goddess of War, and her work has been published in Kramer’s Ergot, The Ganzfeld, An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, and The Best American Comics of 2007 and 2010. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, Glamour, and Lucky Peach magazines. She is currently working on a sequel to Girl Stories. www. laurenweinstein.com
is an assitant professor of Art and Film at Vanderbilt University in the area of Time Based Media Arts and Performance. She works with modeling (as defined by agent based computer programming) as a conceptual prompt in her performance work, she has developed a concept of Open Source Performance Art (OSPA), she has spoken about OSPA at various academic conferences and performance festivals since 2010. She has performed at the 10th annual OPEN ART Performance Art festival in Beijing, China, The Performance Art Network PANAsia ‘09 in Seoul, South Korea, the TAMA TUPADA 2010 Media and Performance festival in the Philippines. She recently spent a month in Sao Paulo Brazil where she performed as the first American performance artist to be invited to the Verbo Performance Art Festival and was part of an international scholar exchange sponsored by University of Sao Paulo and Vanderbilt University VIO and Art Department. Currently she has a sound installation throughout the Nashville International Airport
Andy Sturdevant is an artist, writer and arts administrator living in South Minneapolis. He has written about art, history and culture for a variety of Twin Cities-based publications and websites, including mnartists.org, Rain Taxi, Art Review and Preview!, Mpls. St. Paul, and heavytable. com. His essays have also appeared in publications of the Walker Art Center and the Jerome Foundation. Andy writes a weekly column on arts and visual culture in Minneapolis-St. Paul for MinnPost.
Jeanne Thornton lives and writes in Austin. She is a member of the Fiction Circus literary group and the creator of the comic strips The Man Who Hates Fun and Bad Mother. Her first novel, The Dream of Doctor Bantam, a story of teenage love and Scientology-esque cult membership, was released in 2012 from O/R Books. www. fictioncircus.com/Jeanne
Mack White is an Austin-based artist and writer whose published works include The Mutant Book of the Dead, Villa of the Mysteries, and The Bush Junta. His most recent book Texas Tales Illustrated: The Revolution (TCU Press) won the 2012 Will Rogers Medallion Award. www. mackwhite.com
Malachi Ward is a cartoonist living in Pasadena, California with his wife Keiko. He’s the author of the Ritual series, and coauthor of Expansion with Matt Sheean. He’s also contributed to anthologies published by Fantagraphics, Image, and NoBrow. www.malachiward.com
Dan Wieken is an underground comic art metal rip-off illustrator based in St.Paul, Minnesota. guy. www.danwieken.com
and recently returned from Tasmania, Australia, where she was an Artist in residence at the University of Tasmania school of Visual and Performing arts. She performed for the opening week of the Gwangju Biennial at three of their venues this past September, in Gwangju, South Korea. She is the Editor-in-Chief of Art Art Zine a new online publication of art and society for the South and the Director of the Women’s Art League of Tennessee (W.A.L).
Garrett Young is a self-taught cartoonist from Nebraska. www.doctopmaru.tumblr.comç
Dawn Youngs is an actress and artist originally from Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a BA in Performing Arts from American University and MFA in Acting from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. You can see Dawn on the stage monthly as the Moderatrix of the Dionysium’s debates. She and her partner Kurt Hildebrand moved to Austin several years ago with the dream of building an off-grid artist retreat, and
have begun development of Spooky Action Ranch in the Texas Hill Country. She hopes that SAR will be a creative respite where artists of all kinds can come to reconnect with nature, refill the artistic well, and promote the ideals of sustainable self-sufficient living. www.dawnyoungs.com
Jeff Zwirek aka Jeffrey Antacid, aka Jeff Z is a self-publishing cartoonist. His comics work includes Jack Rabbit, Black Star, Pinstriped Bloodbath, and Burning Building Comix. He has received a nomination for an Ignatz award, and his comics have been named “Notable Comics” multiple times by the Best American Comics anthology. He also is one of the organizers of C.A.K.E, the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo. He lives and works in Chicago, with his wife and two sons. www.jeffscomics.com
This book would not have been possible without all of our Kickstarter backers. We thank the following individuals for their exemplary material contributions during our campaign: Tiffany and Erik Adams, Regina Allen, Paul and Barb Atherton, Pat Aulisio, Wayne Alan Brenner, Beth Burns, Stephen Burnside, Terence Chandler, Lisa Choinacky, Andrew R.P. Cromwell, Mike D’Alonzo, Pamela and Michael Dayton, L.B. Deyo and Ellie Hanlon, Zahie El Kouri and John Greenman, Michel Fiffe, Kate Fitzpatrick, Roanna Flowers, Graham Franciose, Nathan Fulton, Sam Gaskin, Robert Habermann, Rowan “Badger” Hagemann, Todd C. Hart, Dorian Henao, Asher Henderson, Matt Jones, Aidan Koch, Raj Kochhar, Annie Koyama, Amanda Krauss, Benjamin Marra, Andrew McCormick, Steve and Sue McCormick, Ryan Meech, Yehudi Mercado, Roy Moore, John Monteschio, David Ohlerking, Mary Shadles Mullen, Chad Nichols and Pam Colloff, Maximillian Osswald, Taylor Overstreet, Charlie Owen, Roger Parks, Jennifer Patner, Judy Paul, Ellen Pittsford, Jason Ramm, Evan Rattner, Zak Sally, Amber W. Smith, Kent Michael Smith, John Sokolowski, Mark Spacek, Craig Staggs, Karla Steffen, Aron Taylor, Dan Wieken, Sydney ScogginsWiggins, Amelia Winger-Bearksin, and Jeff Zwirek Kickstarter project video Craig Staggs Art photography and digitization Kenneth Gall and Neil Ganucheau at Skyline Printing Book design by Marc English Design, Austin Texas. Marc English Harry Graham, marcenglish.com Proofing and copy editing by Katherine Kiger