A haunting vision of liberty in Trump's America, in two magazine covers
Two magazine covers are gaining notice for their stinging indictments of Donald Trump’s recent actions on immigration.
The New Yorker‘s next cover will feature a haunting depiction of the Statue of Liberty’s torch, with the flame extinguished, the magazine announced.
The cover art for the Feb. 13-20 issue, titled “Liberty’s Flameout” and created by John W. Tomac, shows the torch–traditionally considered a symbolic light on the path to freedom–as burned out, reduced to a wisp of smoke.
“It used to be that the Statue of Liberty, and her shining torch, was the vision that welcomed new immigrants. And, at the same time, it was the symbol of American values,” Tomac said. “Now it seems that we are turning off the light.”
The image will be featured on the cover of The New Yorker’s 92nd anniversary issue. Typically, the anniversary issue features a riff on the magazine’s iconic monocled man, art editor Françoise Mouly wrote.
Mouly explained that the departure from tradition is a “response to the opening weeks of the Trump Administration, particularly the executive order on immigration.”
Germany’s Der Spiegel also featured the Statue of Liberty on its latest cover. Its image, however, was even bleaker than its American counterpart’s—and required very little explanation.