In a reflective essay for 2026, the author draws on conversations with artists Luc Tuymans and Olafur Eliasson from the "A brush with…" podcast to explore art's capacity to offer hope amid political and environmental crises. Eliasson discusses his climate-focused works like the glacier melt series "1999/2019" and his despair after COP30, emphasizing action over hope, while Tuymans addresses political trauma through his exhibition at David Zwirner, including a riff on Géricault's "The Raft of the Medusa" that compares the United States to a fruit basket.
This matters because it argues that art, by fostering individual agency and shared experience, can provide a form of hope even in dire times. The piece positions visual art as a vital counterweight to political and environmental despair, highlighting how artists like Eliasson and Tuymans engage audiences directly, making them active participants in meaning-making. It underscores art's enduring role in societal discourse, particularly when traditional institutions falter.