Obama's portraits unveiled

a reply to: queenofswords

These portraits are just ridiculous and laughable. I'm no fan of the Obama's but they need to get a real artist and get these re painted. These portraits are not presidential in any way. They will be mocked for generations to come.

Sean Hannity has pointed out the perverted symbolism in the portrait of Obama.

Controversy surrounding Kehinde Wiley’s wildly non-traditional portrait of the Commander-in-Chief broke out within minutes of its unveiling; with industry insiders claiming the artist secretly inserted his trademark technique -concealing images of sperm within his paintings.

Picture of it at the link.
www.hannity.com...

originally posted by: Hypntick
So I learned that aside from the general perspective and focus on the face of the subject, there aren't really any rules for a portrait. I actually like the Michelle one because the subject doesn't get lost in the background like in the former PotUS' one, his is just entirely too busy in the background for my taste. Do I think his fits what should be a presidential portrait? Not particularly, but then again neither did dubya's.

You can go back much further than that. JFK doesn't look presidential at all. He looks like a surly teenager who's been dragged to some formal event by his parents, and wishes he was hanging out at the mall with his friends instead.

a reply to: Bluntone22

what does Obama stepping on a purple flower symbolize

originally posted by: prevenge
a reply to: Bluntone22

what does Obama stepping on a purple flower symbolize

Well, recent political rhetoric has emphasized the red/blue divide. Thus, stepping on a purple flower symbolizes Obama rejecting bipartisanship.

Hey, if those artistic hacks can do it, why can't I?

Purple mountains majesty..

Being squashed by Obama???

originally posted by: face23785

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: face23785

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: face23785

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: Bluntone22

Those are heinous....and they forgot Michael's penis....

Terrible pictures, I agree. but are we know calling all first ladies Transexuals or just the black ones? I didn't get the memo. Or should all ladies be judged on their looks no matter age, race or physical imperfections? My grandmother's going to be pissed, at 80 she doesn't look like a beauty queen any longer.

Way to bring race into it. Take a good look at yourself. That's the first thing you default to. His comment may have been immature, but it had nothing to do with race. Join us in the 21st century, bigot.

I disagree.. I think it was a serious question. Why would he call Michelle Obama a transgender? Does he do that with all first ladies or only the black ones? I would bet that he never asked about Barbara Bush's penis. Prove me wrong.

Why would you assume it had anything to do with race? Maybe he just finds her ugly and didn't even think about her race. The fact that the first thing you assumed was it was racial reflects poorly on your part. Stop seeing everything through colored glasses. We can leave racism behind, if only you'll let us. Stop holding society back. Let go of skin color.

Then why would he ask about her having a penis? You're saying it's okay to judge a woman by her looks and ask if she's a man, very crudely if you don't like her looks? What do you guys do when you go to a hospital to the burn ward or to an old folks assisted living home? That's a terrible way to live life and judge other people. if that's the case, he must have asked where Nancy Reagon's penis was or Barbara Bush? Yes? No?

I'm not saying it's okay at all, in fact I called his comment immature. You keep reading what you want to read instead of what people actually said. Why do you want racism so bad you have to invent it in places it didn't exist? The poster's comment still had nothing to do with race. Stop letting race identity politics run your life. You have no idea what his motivations were, to just assume racism is ignorant and possibly revealing bigoted feelings in yourself. You just assume he's a white person saying that about Michelle because she's black, revealing that you just assume random white people have such evil feelings without any evidence. That says a lot about the prejudices you harbor for white people. That's bigotry in itself. Don't be part of the problem. For the last time, please stop focusing so much on skin color. Thanks.

My oppologies. That was the obvious difference between Michelle Obama and every other First lady we've ever had.

What is it that makes people question Michelle Obama's Gender in ways that they never have done for other first ladies?

Please tell me why Michelle Obama is different than every other first lady? I'm waiting. Why is she the only first lady they ask about having a penis?

I can only see one difference, she's black. But as I've said in other posts, I'm not very smart and I must be missing how she is different than every other first lady in history.

originally posted by: queenofswords

originally posted by: ketsuko
We're watching the presidential portraits morph into modern art, and it's as ugly as modern art often is.

Official Presidential portraits should be presidential and accurate depictions, imo. These are absolutely inappropriate, but what did we expect. They would be fine to display outside "official portrait" status.

They look like Velvet Elvis style. But, I have laughed so hard tonight at the memes that have been created out of BHO's depiction especially. Comedy relief for sure.

I don't know why people aren't getting this; These are not the OFFICIAL presidential portraits, just art installments for the Smithsonian.

The OFFICIAL portrait hasn't been painted yet.

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
Well, recent political rhetoric has emphasized the red/blue divide. Thus, stepping on a purple flower symbolizes Obama rejecting bipartisanship. Hey, if those artistic hacks can do it, why can't I?

Several types of criticism, whether they have to do with art or literature or whatever, allow the incorporation of the reaction of the viewer from their perspective to be included, since art is communication and no communication can exist without there being a "recipient" of the communication. The recipient adds their own background and knowledge to the interpretation of the work, and it's as valid as any other kind of standard interpretation coming from a critic within the artistic establishment. It doesn't even matter if the artist themselves intended it.

So your point of view and opinion is every bit as important to the communication process as anybody else's. I think him stepping on a purple flower symbolizes the legacy he will leave behind after his death, since purple is the color of Death. Also Prince. Did Obama kill Prince? Hmmm...

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: face23785

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: face23785

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: face23785

originally posted by: amazing

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: Bluntone22

Those are heinous....and they forgot Michael's penis....

Terrible pictures, I agree. but are we know calling all first ladies Transexuals or just the black ones? I didn't get the memo. Or should all ladies be judged on their looks no matter age, race or physical imperfections? My grandmother's going to be pissed, at 80 she doesn't look like a beauty queen any longer.

Way to bring race into it. Take a good look at yourself. That's the first thing you default to. His comment may have been immature, but it had nothing to do with race. Join us in the 21st century, bigot.

I disagree.. I think it was a serious question. Why would he call Michelle Obama a transgender? Does he do that with all first ladies or only the black ones? I would bet that he never asked about Barbara Bush's penis. Prove me wrong.

Why would you assume it had anything to do with race? Maybe he just finds her ugly and didn't even think about her race. The fact that the first thing you assumed was it was racial reflects poorly on your part. Stop seeing everything through colored glasses. We can leave racism behind, if only you'll let us. Stop holding society back. Let go of skin color.

Then why would he ask about her having a penis? You're saying it's okay to judge a woman by her looks and ask if she's a man, very crudely if you don't like her looks? What do you guys do when you go to a hospital to the burn ward or to an old folks assisted living home? That's a terrible way to live life and judge other people. if that's the case, he must have asked where Nancy Reagon's penis was or Barbara Bush? Yes? No?

I'm not saying it's okay at all, in fact I called his comment immature. You keep reading what you want to read instead of what people actually said. Why do you want racism so bad you have to invent it in places it didn't exist? The poster's comment still had nothing to do with race. Stop letting race identity politics run your life. You have no idea what his motivations were, to just assume racism is ignorant and possibly revealing bigoted feelings in yourself. You just assume he's a white person saying that about Michelle because she's black, revealing that you just assume random white people have such evil feelings without any evidence. That says a lot about the prejudices you harbor for white people. That's bigotry in itself. Don't be part of the problem. For the last time, please stop focusing so much on skin color. Thanks.

My oppologies. That was the obvious difference between Michelle Obama and every other First lady we've ever had.

What is it that makes people question Michelle Obama's Gender in ways that they never have done for other first ladies?

Please tell me why Michelle Obama is different than every other first lady? I'm waiting. Why is she the only first lady they ask about having a penis?

I can only see one difference, she's black. But as I've said in other posts, I'm not very smart and I must be missing how she is different than every other first lady in history.

You obviously have not been following this. It all started when Joan Rivers made a strange comment, apparently seriously, that Obama was the first gay president, and Michele was a man. This prompted people to take a closer look at Michele, and a number of people have noticed some suspicous things about her:

* There are at least a few pictures of Michele where she appears to have a bulge in the front of her pants.
* In photos where Michele is looking up (there are at least a couple floating around), she appears to have an adam's apple.
* She has a very muscular build for a woman.
* She is also quite tall for a woman. Anytime you see a picture of her in a group of people, she is inevitably the tallest woman in the photo.
* In more recent pictures, Michele appears to be showing what might be a receding hairline.

Other people have setup websites delving into such minutiae as finger lengths and shoulder/hips ratio, but I'm unconvinced any of that is valid.

Note that none of this is connected to her skin color.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Weird. I've never followed Joan Rivers. I never found her funny. I thought she had died a while ago?

originally posted by: amazing
a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Weird. I've never followed Joan Rivers. I never found her funny. I thought she had died a while ago?

She did. She made those a comments a few months before she died.

originally posted by: amazing
a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

Weird. I've never followed Joan Rivers. I never found her funny. I thought she had died a while ago?

She was a host of a show called Fashion Police. It was a guilty pleasure in our house. She had a snarky style and took shots at everyone like she took at Michelle. What is certain is that shortly after taking that shot about how "We all know Michelle is a tranny ..." she went into plastic surgery which should have been routine and had some kind of cardiac event on the table and died soon after.

a reply to: FamCore

Sean Spicer pulled it off better.. lol

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
You can go back much further than that. JFK doesn't look presidential at all. He looks like a surly teenager who's been dragged to some formal event by his parents, and wishes he was hanging out at the mall with his friends instead.

Well with JFK you do have some extenuating circumstances...

originally posted by: Chickensalad

originally posted by: queenofswords

originally posted by: ketsuko
We're watching the presidential portraits morph into modern art, and it's as ugly as modern art often is.

Official Presidential portraits should be presidential and accurate depictions, imo. These are absolutely inappropriate, but what did we expect. They would be fine to display outside "official portrait" status.

They look like Velvet Elvis style. But, I have laughed so hard tonight at the memes that have been created out of BHO's depiction especially. Comedy relief for sure.

I don't know why people aren't getting this; These are not the OFFICIAL presidential portraits, just art installments for the Smithsonian.

The OFFICIAL portrait hasn't been painted yet.

What?? No they are portraits that are made after each president leaves office. They will be added to the "America's Presidents" exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

One more thing if I was Michelle I'd be mad. I don't know who that artist painted but it wasn't her. I was looking at obama starring at it and you could tell he was thinking the same thing.

a reply to: Hypntick

True, the idea of having a completely historic gallery of presidential portraits was to provide an artistic synopsis of our history. Most artist create the Presidents with this idea in mind. Looking at the painting provides little insights into their character as the leader of America. That is why GW Bush portrait suffered back lash in 2010 and why Obama's now is receiving flack.

Sadly, their breaking of tradition does really say more about their individual characters as portrayed in these portraits. They show they did not respect nor take their leadership seriously.

originally posted by: Hypntick

originally posted by: AndyFromMichigan
You can go back much further than that. JFK doesn't look presidential at all. He looks like a surly teenager who's been dragged to some formal event by his parents, and wishes he was hanging out at the mall with his friends instead.

Well with JFK you do have some extenuating circumstances...

Now that I think about it, that might actually be pretty close to the truth for JFK.

Kennedy's dad was grooming his oldest son, Joe Jr. for a life in politics, but Joe Jr. was killed in WW2. So John was essentially drafted to fulfill his father's vicarious ambitions.

Back to Obama's portrait: Someone on Twitter pointed out that Obama has two right hands in the picture. Take a good close look at the thumbs.

originally posted by: dragonridr

One more thing if I was Michelle I'd be mad. I don't know who that artist painted but it wasn't her. I was looking at obama starring at it and you could tell he was thinking the same thing.

I definitely noticed that. Even leaving aside everything I just posted about Michele, the picture just plain does not look anything like her. The woman in the picture is much younger than Michele, and her hair is like no hairstyle we've ever seen on Michele.

a reply to: AndyFromMichigan

I don't see two right hands? Actually, no thumbs at all are depicted. I only see that it appears his wedding band is on his right hand and not his left.

originally posted by: FamCore
a reply to: Bluntone22

The one of Michelle doesn't even look like her (in my humble opinion).

Obama's does look pretty spot on, I just don't get why he appears to be seated outside with leaves and plant matter all over. Is that part of the environmentalism angle, or... ?

Yeah, you can tell by her reaction face; she wasnt "blacc ppl" enough