Happy Presidents Day! In the US this is a holiday, officially to celebrate the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln, whose birthdays were commemorated separately until about a decade ago when they were merged. A lot of New Yorkers think today about skiing, since it’s really the last 3 day weekend of the winter – and it’s snowing this morning so a lot of kids will be shoved outside by their parents to go play in it. Or they may take them to the Met , Guggenheim, or MOMA, which are all open today.
George Washington by the Street Artist named Senator (photo © Jaime Rojo)
But back to the gallery of the street, which is always open, we can get a little history lesson too. Everybody knows that Shepard Fairey nailed it with his Obama posters a couple of years ago, but did you realize that Street Artists have been putting up many presidential portraits over the last decade? One artist, Senator, sometimes confused people with wheat-pasted pieces in the late 2000s because his name signed to the image lead you to think it was about the subject, like the George Washington image above. His black and white coloring-book style depicted many presidents – Lincoln, Adams, Jefferson, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan. As you can see below, Senator is not the only Street Artists to find US presidents a worthy topic.
Senator (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Abraham Lincoln by Visual Resistance (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Smoking Jack Kennedy by Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Richard Nixon by Faile (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Senator (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ronnie talk to Keith; The Gipper shaking the hand of a Photoshopped Keith Hernandez from a street art viral campaign a couple of years ago. Photo © Jaime Rojo
Sever focuses on the the Bush Cheney duo. Primary Flight Miami 2008 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The simple placement of a dollar sign was all this Street Artist needed to complete their portrait of George W. Bush. Photo © Jaime Rojo
President Obama’s image next to Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth is appropriated by Street Artist General Howe (photo © Jaime Rojo)
One of the many Obama street art pieces from 2008, this one is similar to the ubiquitous Shepard Fairey images around at that time. © Jaime Rojo
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Looks like Biancoshock is feeling a little nostalgic for his wall-hopping days with this simple ladder made of aerosol paint cans. When talking about the graffiti and Street Art scene it is ...
Summer interns are younger than ever this year in NYC! Thought you would like to see this video that Huffpost made last week as the FAILE show was about to open. Literally it was the day before the...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Street Artist GAIA, Super Modernity in Italy, Austria, Turkey 2. JR: RIVAGES a film by Guill...
We always say that Street Art reflects us back to ourselves and during a recent trip to the streets of Barcelona we found some great examples of regional traditions that build community and celebrate ...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. MADC at Dresden Airport2. Jorge Rodriguez-Gerarda "COR" Santa Coloma de Gramanet3. Murfy: P...