Hi, Margy, There is a small billboard to post signs on East Ave, and the top half of the poster of Kehinde Wiley’s presidential portrait of Obama was ripped off, leaving a black duct tape seam, as well as a duct tape frame.. Your guess is as good as mine as to why this top part had been removed. It appeared to be done cleanly with an exacto knife, so it seemed intentional. The upper area simply became the palimpsest of many other posts that had been ripped away and recovered through time with new posters (reminding me of the way people might rip away wall paper before attempting a papering job). I don’t have a clue if this was a political statement or not, but I photographed it and cropped out evidence of the street and made the photo black and white. Wiley’s choice of such lush foliage around Obama’s feet makes me think someone was commenting on a world that was green and growing, but without a head, beginning to disintegrate. It may be such street vandalism – who knows? Thanks for asking about this!
I’m glad you explained, I was wondering what a found collage is. But the state of our country is right on the spot! we are a nation without a head, and wishing we have someone of the calibre of our last president again.
Eerie indeed! I would love to hear more about this as I try to parse out its various disparate elements!
Hi, Margy, There is a small billboard to post signs on East Ave, and the top half of the poster of Kehinde Wiley’s presidential portrait of Obama was ripped off, leaving a black duct tape seam, as well as a duct tape frame.. Your guess is as good as mine as to why this top part had been removed. It appeared to be done cleanly with an exacto knife, so it seemed intentional. The upper area simply became the palimpsest of many other posts that had been ripped away and recovered through time with new posters (reminding me of the way people might rip away wall paper before attempting a papering job). I don’t have a clue if this was a political statement or not, but I photographed it and cropped out evidence of the street and made the photo black and white. Wiley’s choice of such lush foliage around Obama’s feet makes me think someone was commenting on a world that was green and growing, but without a head, beginning to disintegrate. It may be such street vandalism – who knows? Thanks for asking about this!
I’m glad you explained, I was wondering what a found collage is. But the state of our country is right on the spot! we are a nation without a head, and wishing we have someone of the calibre of our last president again.