Every election year in Texas, David Alcantar transforms from a mild-mannered artist into Superman.
At 46, Alcantar isn’t leaping any tall buildings. But in blue leggings, red shorts and a tight T-shirt with Superman's crest splashed across the chest, Alcantar has become an Election Day fixture in San Antonio, running near polling stations with a white “Vote!” flag in hopes of unleashing what he believes is everyone’s superpower: casting a ballot.
“This desire for power and the kind of super heroic power, I think, is something that is universal and pretty American,” Alcantar said. “No matter how many push-ups we do, or sit-ups we do, or how much weightlifting we do – we’re never going to have the kind of power that Superman has.”
But he sees a silver lining. “The power we do actually have is the one of voting,” Alcantar said.
Getting people to the polls isn't what originally drew him to the Man of Steel.
His “Superman Project” first began with an itch to explore the relationships between heroism and power. Soon after, Alcantar looked for ways to fold voting themes into his work.
He already had the flag, which he had purchased to display at his home. The Superman getup — workout gear, really — was also at his fingertips after he previously tinkered with the idea of making an exercise book with illustrations. And it helped that with naturally thick black hair and a muscular build, Alcantar had a head start in pulling off the look of his alter ego.
Then one day he went to vote early, and it clicked.
“After I came back from doing that, and still racking my brain, I figured out that I could put on all that uniform and carry this vote flag around and use his icon as a lever with which to encourage people to exercise their own power,” he said.
There's more to his art than running down the street. In the studio, Alcantar tries to emphasize the power of voting through a wide range of mediums, including acrylic, canvas and digital design, just to name a few.
This year, Alcantar said he sees people conflicted ahead of November’s election.
“But if they don’t vote then that means somebody else is essentially voting on their behalf,” Alcantar said.
As for how Superman votes when he ducks into a polling booth, he avoids taking sides like it's Kryptonite.
“Superman is a champion of all Americans,” Alcantar said. “So he is apolitical.”
