Geez. If this keeps up, Printeresting is going to have to assign a full-time writer to the presidential campaign. More political print/graphics in the news, this time in Boston. Ron English and Gallery XIV legally posted giant prints featuring an image of an Obama/Lincoln hybrid portrait. The comparison to Lincoln is not an entirely new one though this is the first time I’ve seen a literal juxtaposition of their two faces. The effect is somewhat jarring. From the Boston Globe…
English said he was born and raised in Illinois and is an Obama supporter. He said he wanted the image to serve as a springboard for conversation about Obama’s candidacy. “I believe Obama will take up Lincoln’s challenge of uniting the country,” English wrote. “This is the most excited I’ve ever been about a presidential candidate and I’m looking for ways that I can contribute as an artist and a citizen.” Some say the comparisons between Obama and Lincoln only go so far.
That last sentence is pretty funny.
The street installation has created controversy with neighborhood businesses and residents largely because of the influx of English fans, a number of whom have done some of their own illegal postings of the images around town. This brings up the issue raised in the last Obamagraphics post, namely, whether or not artists making propaganda without campaign oversight help or hurt the cause. Does Obama take flack for English’s zealous endorsement? Is any publicity good publicity?
(Thanks to RL for the links/story)
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