Untitled 2012
Glazed porcelain with imbedded pigments, brass, paper, artist’s frame
8½ × 8½ × 1½ inches; 22 × 22 × 4 cm
Edition 11/15
Signed and numbered in ink on label (verso): R. Gober 11/15

This work is based on a pin produced for the 1940 presidential campaign of Wendell Willkie, a Republican running on an anti-Roosevelt platform. The slogan “WE DON’T WANT ELEANOR EITHER” refers to first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who was widely known for her activism during her husband’s presidency. Responding to the pin, she told The New York Times, “If I could be worried about mud-slinging, I would have been dead long ago.” The pin in Untitled, a meticulous depiction of the overlooked but intriguing artifact, is mounted on handmade paper made to resemble creased cardboard.