This painting of US politican Barack Obama, mixed-media stenciled collage, was created by Los Angeles-based street artist, Shepard Fairey. It was the central portrait image used in Obama's 2008 presidential election campaign, and distributed as a limited-edition print and free download. It is now in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.
"To create his Obama poster (which he did in less than a week), Fairey grabbed a news photograph of the candidate off the Internet. He sought an Obama that looked presidential. ... The artist then simplified the lines and geometry, employing a red, white and blue patriotic palette (which he plays with by making the white a beige and the blue a pastel shade)... boldface words...
"His Obama posters (and lots of his commercial and fine art work) are reworkings of the techniques of revolutionary propagandists -- the bright colors, bold lettering, geometric simplicity, heroic poses."
-- "Obama's On-the-Wall Endorsement" by William Booth, Washington Post 18 May 2008.
