|
|
Posted by RL Tillman on January 20th, 2009 | Inauguration Day: Regardless of country, color or creed, truly we are all Obamagraphics now.
Of course, anybody can make an automatic Obamagraphic generator, but what about a real labor of love to celebrate this proud day? Check out these truly great hand-carved, hand-pulled student prints (by non-art majors):
 At Inkteraction, Mary Sherwood Brock explains:
Last semester I had my non art majors work on a 3 color reduction linocut… I chose to use the Shepard Fairey image of Obama as a model and it worked out very well on many levels. I could show students how the layers went together and as an added benefit, the project was due on the same week as the election, so focus was intense. I was personally happy to have a big poster of Obama beaming over the classroom for the weeks leading up to the election.
Closer views at the full Flickr set. Oh, Happy Day!
Posted by RL Tillman on January 19th, 2009 |
Posted by Jason Urban on January 17th, 2009 | Who hasn’t spent a little money on kitschy souvenirs sold at tourist destinations? Is there a better reminder of your trip to the Eiffel Tower than a three-inch die cast Eiffel Tower pencil sharpener? There’s a need to remember and sometimes an object helps- even if it is a piece of junk.
Now that we’ve broached the previously untouchable subject of Obamagraphics fatigue, I’ll share this item that managed to break through the waves of bamakitsch* and catch my waning attention. Something that actually felt kind of refreshing. Boym Partners Inc are a husband and wife design team based in NYC and they been taking their cue from the kind of souvenir kitsch mentioned above. Their site offers a variety of design objects available for purchase and also has a blog that’s worth the occasional visit- Oh Boym!
In my opinion, the Boyms have made the best of the various Obama commemorative merchandise- a small blue resin White House in an edition of 1000. It’s billed as a presidential inauguration souvenir. It’s simple and powerful and the bright blue speaks to a hopeful, pop sensibility.
 The Obama White House, Blue Resin, 4″x3″1 1/2″, 2009.
This piece is a bit of a departure from the Boyms’ usual fare. Prior to The Obama White House, the Boyms were well-known for creating Buildings of Disaster- a series of iconic modern disaster keepsakes.
The subjects range from Chernobyl and Three Mile Island (pictured above) to the Oklahoma City Federal Building and Ford’s Theatre and all are cast in gray resin. Not too surprisingly, these objects have been met with some controversy. Though the statues themselves are quite minimal and (I think) tasteful, the question of appropriateness lingers. Perhaps because tragic locations like the New Orleans Superdome get the same treatment as the obviously less tragic Neverland Ranch? Watch the video for some response to the series…
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.771424&w=425&h=350&fv=]
“BUILDINGS OF DISASTER”, posted with vodpod
* Bamakitsch- I’d like to introduce this new term into the conversation.
Posted by RL Tillman on January 16th, 2009 | OK, I’m sick of it too. Obamagraphics fever just won’t die! But Shepard Fairey’s appearance on The Colbert Report may be the shark-jumping moment we’ve hoped for. I thought the interview was pretty dull, perhaps because Colbert seems to be a real fan of Fairey’s work. If you, on the other hand, are just plain tired of the guy, maybe you should take another look at this classic unhinged diatribe about how Fairey is a “second-rate, infantile plagiarist.” Let it all out!
Returning to Colbert, I was far more interested in this segment on Obama Collectibles. Stephen’s guest “P.K. Winsome” presents a range of historic products, including a commemorative energy drink, the Yes We Can of Energy Drink. I think I saw that in my local Rite-Aid!
Posted by Jason Urban on January 16th, 2009 | 
Shepard Fairey was interviewed by Stephen Colbert last night on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report. It’s brief but nice to see a graphic artist getting some attention. Not sure how long this video will be on youtube… let us know if you notice that the link is dead.
Posted by RL Tillman on January 12th, 2009 | The Snake Has Eaten Itself; The Printeresting Circle is Complete; for we have beheld, the Obama Coffee Stencil:
This post brought to you care of my BFF, via NOTCOT
Posted by amze on January 7th, 2009 |
Today’s New York Times ran a small ArtsBeat Article by Dave Itzkoff about the graphic seen around the world. It seems Shepard Fairey’s Obama HOPE print will be accessioned into the National Portrait Gallery and will be on display during the inauguration ceremonies. The full article with links is below, I find it most noteworthy for the lengths the author goes to keep from using the word ‘print’; for example calling the image, a “mixed-media stencil collage” , which you viewers at home might know as a screen print or if you are feeling fancy a serigraph.
Shepard Fairey’s poster of Obama hanging in Paris, one of a million or so places that the portrait turned up in 2008. (Ed Alcock for The New York Times)
Shepard Fairey’s ubiquitous illustration of President-elect Barack Obama, seen in rallies, parties, shop windows and construction sites throughout the 2008 election season, has found a permanent home. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., announced that it had acquired Mr. Fairey’s work for its collection. The portrait, a mixed-media stenciled collage that depicts Mr. Obama above the word “hope,” was created by Mr. Fairey, a Los Angeles-based artist known for rock-music album covers and a sticker campaign featuring the wrestler Andre the Giant. In a release, Martin E. Sullivan, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, said that the Obama poster was “an emblem of a significant election, as well as a new presidency.” The portrait is expected to be on display by Inauguration Day. By Dave Itzkoff
Thanks to the printeresting anonymous tipster who sent this one in, You’ll be getting you pair of socks in the mail directly.
Posted by RL Tillman on December 18th, 2008 | 
TIME magazine is getting some blowback for featuring a Shepard Fairey illustration on the cover of its Person of the Year issue. In an article entitled “Propaganda of the Year,” Sasha Issenberg writes:
“[TIME] takes its usual pains to make the world-historical case for its choice. But the image the magazine chose for its cover strives for little such distance: Time is decorated, quite literally, with an Obama campaign poster…Not only has Time abdicated a journalistic opportunity to freshly interpret Obama’s significance in visual terms, but it outsourced the work to the campaign itself: the graphic equivalent of headlining an Obama profile ‘Change We Can Believe In.’”
Leave aside the fact that Issenberg refers to Fairey as “the campaign itself,” which is a misleading description of his role. It doesn’t matter: these images were a genuine phenomenon outside of any official role they played in the campaign (and outside of their aesthetic worth). When images of this cover made the rounds online, I was unclear if the illustration was actually by Fairey, or just a riff on the phenomenon. Either way, it seemed wholly appropriate that TIME would represent Obama in what has become his signature style.
C’mon! The stuff was everywhere! It was a year-long festival of Obamagraphics! As we’ve documented all year, the posters have been exalted by Obama partisans and pilloried by his opponents. They have been parodied by satirists of all political stripes. The imagery has been appropriated for dozens of purposes, some ideological, some merely commercial. The impact of this imagery was broad & deep, even when the image itself was used in a narrow & shallow context:
I do think TIME’s decision to use this imagery is worth discussing, but not because this is some example of the liberal media at work.
For a different view: visit the always-interesting BAGnewsNotes, where Michael Shaw makes the more nuanced and perceptive point: Fairey is just a shallow hack who’s looking to cash in.
Posted by RL Tillman on December 12th, 2008 | There’s been plenty of speculation about how President Obama may utilize the social networks developed during his campaign. Can the new administration transform that complex operation into an effective instrument of governance? Is it even possible for a “top-down” executive structure to harness the “bottom-up” Obama phenomenon?
But that stuff’s boring. Printeresting readers ponder a more vital question: whither Obamagraphics?
More broadly: Was all this just a one-time deal, powered by a transformative and photogenic candidate? Or will the election of 2008 have an enduring effect on political street art in the U.S.? Can we look forward to a more vibrant visual culture of political posters, stickers, T-shirts, rubber stamps, and even peppermints?
At least one artist known for his Obamagraphics has kept it goin’ after the election. In fact, Chicago-based Ray Noland (a.k.a. CRO) has broadened his horizons and released this downloadable anti-Blagojevich poster under a Creative Commons license:
As for the future…we’ll keep an eye on it for you.
Posted by Jason Urban on November 23rd, 2008 | From Shepard Fairey to Ray Noland and Ron English to Antar Dayal, finally, a huge collection of Obama posters in one place. Now you just need to get to the Dominican Republic to see them!
Glennys Anglada has amassed more than seventy different Obama posters for “El Arte Como Politica y La Politica Como Arte,” at the Barna Business School in Santa Domingo.
|
|
Like
