News

A provocative Donald Trump painting has appeared in Manchester city centre

It's certainly quite the visage.

Danny Jones - 29th January 2025

Following the recent US presidential election, a controversial new painting featuring Donald Trump has appeared in a Manchester city centre shop window.

Popping up in a small and largely empty outlet on Deansgate, the striking political cartoon is now one of the first sights you see heading down the main strip from the Castlefield direction and is already turning heads.

Created by acclaimed Manchester artist Michael J Browne – who is known for recent works such as a collaborative exhibition with Eric Cantona at the National Football Museum – the piece is quickly gaining attention and resulting in plenty of discussion as intended.

Entitled America First – Trump, Putin, China, it is now on display in the window of a ground floor unit of Great Northern Warehouse.

We don’t think the construction work was part of the plan but there’s some ironic about it. (Credit: The Manc Group)

Known for blending Renaissance-inspired techniques with modern social and political themes, as per an official press release, his new large-scale oil painting “dives into the dynamics of power and ego, up against sacrifice.”

As you can see, the piece features a hulking green Donald Trump attached to a crucifix, concealing a sacrificial Jesus, framed by an American flag and a flock of sheep in the background. To the right, Vladimir Putin appears as a modern John the Baptist, quoting “I must decrease, so he can increase”.

Meanwhile, a modern Chinese couple in traditional Han clothing represents “an element of China’s old tradition, with a quote reserved for its royal dynasties ‘Mandate of Heaven'” with scorched earth around them pointing towards the continued environmental destruction of the modern world.

Taking six weeks to complete, Deansgate‘s provocative Trump painting was actually started way back in March 2024 and was also inspired by Browne’s last piece of work.

Having previously spotlighted the Black Panthers movement in mid-1960s America in For 30 pieces of silver, his follow-up is another commentary on power and could be described as a high-end political cartoon like those drawn in newspapers for centuries.

*For 30 pieces of silver* features both Trump and Putin, as well as Chinese leader Xi Jinping. (**Michael J Browne** 2023)

Also drawing inspiration from the ‘Isenheim Altarpiece’ – a widely-admired German Renaissance masterpiece depicting suffering and redemption – this time the Moss Side artist has managed to weave together biblical allegory with current affairs and global geopolitics.

Commenting on the rather stark imagery, Michael says “It’s superimposed power, aggressiveness. Removing God’s Grace! […] The pursuit of power is leaving destruction in its wake—socially, politically, and environmentally.”

Taking cues from ‘Saint Anthony’s fire’, (a disease now referred to as ergotism that is often depicted as a very religious plague), the feeling of skin being on fire is transferred to the landscape itself; “The pursuit of power is leaving destruction in its wake—socially, politically, and environmentally“, he adds.

Michael also coincidentally painted bullets and used shells around Trump’s feet months before the former 45th and now returning 47th US President narrowly survived an assassination attempt on his campaign trail.

America First – Trump, Putin, China can be checked out in full public view on the corner of Great Northern in Deansgate as we speak.

Information for viewers will accompany the painting which is also available for purchase.

Based over at GRIT Studios who have two Greater Manchester locations along with several other local artists, you can find out more about Michael’s work HERE.

What do you make of it?