My name is Andres Serrano.
I'm the creator of "The Game: All Things Trump."
And, you know, in order to live up
to the title of "All Things Trump," I had to find all things bearing the name Trump
that would be of interest to me.
I got a lot of what I call "Donald Trump's Greatest Hits"
Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Shuttle
because these things are well known, you know.
They failed, but he tried, you know.
They were magnificent failures, but he tried, you know.
I don't know what that means for America, but he tries, you know.
I think it's both an art exhibit, it's a history exhibit. It's a collection, and an installation at the same time.
If there's anything that I wanted to say by this exhibition is
that Donald Trump did not become president because he started campaigning 2 or 3 years ago.
He became president because he started campaigning on his own behalf from a very early age.
The reason why I came up with the title of "The Game" is because Donald Trump came up with "The Game" in the late 80s.
On the box, Donald Trump is quoted as saying, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you win,"
and I believe this is the Donald Trump motto for all his life.
It's come to the point where he's succeeded in making everything about Donald Trump, you know,
we're living in a world now where "All Things Trump" actually is a reality.
I took Donald Trump's portrait in 2004 for my "America" series,
but it was actually not really the first time I met him.
The first time I met him, I didn't quite meet him.
I was in a club.
The reason I saw him was that he was talking to a friend of mine by the name of Snookie,
and then I see, all of the sudden, Snookie is about 5 feet away from me,
and he's talking to Donald Trump, who is very tall,
and, at some point, they both turn to me, and Donald Trump looks in my direction,
pauses for a second, and then extends his hand over 3 people's heads to shake my hand, you know.
And that was my first encounter with Donald Trump. I didn't meet him, but I shook his hand.
Almost charming.
I have a slice of Melania and Donald Trump's wedding cake souvenir.
They got married, and the cake was so big that the guests couldn't actually get a piece of that cake
because it was wired up. And so, instead the guests were treated to a little souvenir cake
that was made for 350 guests. Each one got a cake home.
There's a list of some of the 350 celebrity guests
who were invited to that wedding,
which include Hillary and Bill Clinton.
I found 15 Taj Mahal security uniforms.
And so, I got them all, and the intent, once I had the uniforms and the mannequins,
was to line up all the president's men alongside the president.
And, of course they're not soldiers, they're not military, they're Taj Mahal security uniforms,
but you could say they look fascist. You could say they look Nazi. You could say they look like any of those
things, and I don't think you'd be wrong in seeing something like that,
but, of course, you could also say they're just Taj Mahal security uniforms.
My statement, if there's any statement was to do a portrait of Donald Trump
through all of the things that I could find bearing his name.
I don't think of my work as a critique. I think of it as an exploration, an investigation,
so I have my agenda. Other people have their agenda.
I certainly didn't want to be antagonistic to my subject with this portrait
because I find, when you have, I find a lot of anti-Trump art to be boring and not interesting,
so I wanted to make something that would allow the subject to speak for himself.
I think this is a show that he would like. This is actually an art show he would understand.
And so, I think he should come and see it.
I'm worried that yeah, it might be seen as a glorification of Donald Trump,
but I'm also concerned that I'll hear a lot of people who will see it as a glorification of Andres Serrano,
and they hate Andres Serrano, no matter what he does.
So, I will get flack from both sides, from all sides.
Recently, I got a few things about "Piss Christ,"
and it's like 30 years later. They hear my name and that's all they can think of.
And so, it's interesting that in a world where there's very few taboos left, "Piss Christ," to some, is still taboo
and controversial.
I've only voted twice in my life. Both times for Barack Obama.
Now, I was born in this country, and I made it a point never to vote,
but I had to vote for the black president, you know.
On the night of the election, of Donald Tump's election,
my wife and I were in Paris, so we couldn't vote.
But, I feel like I don't need to vote. I voted twice in my life, and that was great, you know.
I don't need to vote ever again.
I, you know, myself, my personal feelings about Donald Trump are sort of mixed, you know, and contradictory.
I mean, there's a lot to be said for Donald Trump and what he's done building his empire,
and even winning over the presidency.
Then, there are other things about Donald Trump that you don't feel so good about.
And so, but, one of the things I did with this exhibition
is, regardless of my personal feelings, I let Trump be Trump
I wish people would say to me, "You know, I hate Donald Trump, but I loved your show."
You know, artists can often point the way to the future and present things with hope.
Many years after Marcel Duchamp taught all of us that
anything could be a work of art because, now, I've made Donald Trump a work of art.