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Barack Obama

Usage Conditions Apply

Alternate Title: Obama "HOPE" Portrait

Artist: Shepard Fairey, born 1970
Copy after: Mannie Garcia, born 1953
Sitter: Barack Hussein Obama, born 4 Aug 1961

Date: 2008

Type: Collage

Medium: Hand-finished collage, stencil, and acrylic on heavy paper
Dimensions: Sheet: 176.7 x 117.5 cm (69 9/16 x 46 1/4"); Frame: 187.3 x 127 x 5.1 cm (73 3/4 x 50 x 2")

Topic: Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie; Poster\Political; Barack Hussein Obama: Male; Barack Hussein Obama: Law and Crime\Lawyer; Barack Hussein Obama: Politics and Government\President of US; Barack Hussein Obama: Politics and Government\US Senator\Illinois; Barack Hussein Obama: Politics and Government\State Senator\Illinois; Barack Hussein Obama: Nobel Prize; Portrait

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Heather and Tony Podesta Collection in honor of Mary K. Podesta

Restrictions & Rights: Usage conditions apply

Object number: NPG.2008.52

Exhibition Label: 44th president, 2009–2017; Barack Obama made history in 2009 by becoming the first African American president. The former Illinois state senator’s election signaled a feeling of hope for the future even as the United States was undergoing its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. While working to improve the economy, Obama enacted the Affordable Care Act, extending health benefits to millions of previously uninsured Americans. Overseas, he oversaw the drawdown of American troops in the Middle East—a force reduction that was controversially replaced with an expansion of drone and aviation strikes. Though his mission to kill al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was successful, his pledge to close the Guantanamo prison went unrealized. Early in 2008, Shepard Fairey, a Los Angeles–based graphic designer and street artist, made his first portraits of the future president. He created a stencil, based on a photograph by Mannie Garcia, to convey Obama’s visionary upward glance and incorporated inspiring words into his designs. The “Hope” portrait circulated widely on the internet and was adapted by campaign supporters, who applied the image to T-shirts, posters, and stickers. For this fine-art version, Fairey translated the portrait into a collage with a rich surface of decorative papers and old newsprint.; 44to presidente, 2009–2017; Barack Obama hizo historia en 2009 al convertirse en el primer presidente afroamericano de Estados Unidos. La elección del exsenador de Illinois generó un sentimiento de esperanza, aun cuando el país atravesaba su peor crisis económica desde la Gran Depresión. A la vez luchaba por mejorar la economía, Obama promulgó la Ley de Cuidado de Salud Asequible, extendiendo los beneficios médicos a millones de ciudadanos que carecían de seguro. En el ámbito exterior, dispuso la reducción de tropas estadounidenses en el Oriente Medio —acto acompa- ñado por una polémica expansión de los ataques con aviones y drones—. Aunque logró su misión de dar muerte al fundador de Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, su promesa de cerrar la prisión de Guantánamo quedó sin cumplir. En 2008, Shepard Fairey, diseñador gráfico y artista urbano radicado en Los Ángeles, hizo sus primeros retratos del futuro presidente. Basándose en una foto de Mannie García, creó estarcidos de Obama con la mirada elevada para destacar su espíritu visionario e insertó en ellos palabras inspiradoras. El retrato “Esperanza” se difundió por la internet y fue adaptado durante la campaña a camisetas, afiches y calcomanías. Para esta versión artística, Fairey convirtió el retrato en un collage de rica superficie con papeles decorativos y viejos recortes de prensa.

Data Source: National Portrait Gallery