Piotr Szyhalski

COVID-19: Labor Camp Reports

2020

COVID-19: Labor Camp Reports, 2020

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 Each poster is imbued with specific historical references, which are sometimes illustrated in the artist’s Instagram Stories on the day a new poster is finished.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.

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Piotr Szyhalski COVID-19: Labor Camp Reports

Piotr Szyhalski

COVID-19: Labor Camp Reports