Kate Just, A Sign of the Times: A knitted translation of Zoe Leonard, I want a president, 1992, reinstalled in 2016 along the New York Highline (2026)
Hand knitted wool and acrylic yarn, timber, canvas
155 x 125cm x 2.5cm
My knitting of Zoe Leonard’s ‘I want a president’ of 1992, reinstallation as a giant paste-up in 2016 along the New York highline is one of the most ambitious and challenging hand knitted pieces I have ever completed. The work references Zoe Leonard, an award-winning American artist of Polish descent who works primarily with photography and sculpture. She began working as an artist in New York City in the 1980s, an era marked by heightened political awareness due to the enormous loss of the AIDS epidemic.
‘I want a president’ was written/typed by the Leonard in response to poet Eileen Myles’ bid to run for president alongside George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. The text reflects Leonard’s ongoing involvement with activist and feminist collectives.
The work’s continued reproduction and re-citation, during the 2016 U.S. election, propelled the original document beyond political art and into popular culture. Speaking about the work, Leonard has said, “I am interested in the space this text opens up for us to imagine and voice what we want in our leaders, and even beyond that, what we can envision for the future of our society. I still think that speaking up is itself a vital and powerful political act.”
In Trump era times, Leonard’s text continues to resonate.
