Aimee Mann has announced her first-ever solo art show. The singer-songwriter will display her paintings of Presidents and First Ladies at City Winery in Manhattan starting Friday (April 15). The show, titled “You Could Have Been a Roosevelt,” runs until April 20, and will coincide with Mann’s scheduled performances at the venue. Mann will display paintings from her “Ten Worst Presidents” series. Check out a couple of Mann’s pieces below.
Mann discussed her inspiration to paint former Presidents and First Ladies in a press release:
In 2013 my friend Tony Blinken went to work at the White House. He told me he needed art for his walls in his new office and I offered to paint him something. I was going to paint a portrait of Obama, but in a burst of some kind of superstitiousness, I didn’t want to paint a political figure I really believed in, and instead became obsessed with the idea of painting only the worst past presidents. For reference I found a list made by US News and World Report. I didn’t get to everyone on the list, and recently when I started painting again. I included some First Ladies (irrespective of their quality). For the record, Tony declined to have a portrait of Millard Fillmore on his wall, and I can’t say I blame him.
Mann’s last album was 2021’s Queens of the Summer Hotel, which was released in conjunction with music for a stage adaptation of Girl, Interrupted. In 2017, Mann issued her Mental Illness LP. Earlier this year, Mann spoke out about being dropped as opener on Steely Dan’s next tour. The band’s Donald Fagen publicly apologized after the fact, pointing to a “communication problem.”
Revisit Pitchfork’s 5-10-15-20 interview “Aimee Mann on the Music That Made Her.”
