Giant Robot: The Art of Obama [View All]

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http://www.artofobama.com/2008/12/12/giant-robot-57/



Just a heads up there is a great "dead tree" issue of Giant Robot that you might want to get before it is sold out. I am an artist, so the art response to Obama has been really interesting to watch this year. There has been some great art, and it's gotten a lot of support from the man himself, which is a trend that I hope continues.


"Ken Harman Hashimoto, of Oakland, CA, saw his site, The Obama Art Report, go from just a few hits to 15,000 a day before the election. "My original reason for starting it was that I felt it needed to be documented, archived, and catalogued," he says. The thriving secondary market lent credibility to the strength of the Obama art scene, but Hashimoto pointed out cases when people were overpricing prints on eBay and steered people to lower-priced alternatives.

The most expensive print? Hashimoto cites the original Shepard Fairey print as the most valuable. He's seen prices soar to $5,000-$8,000, although the market has since cooled.

Hashimoto, who also chronicles as many images as he can find, estimates "there are about 20 mainsream 'name' artists who take up most of the online press given to this art movement." Hashimoto explains with a hopeful tone. "On Flikr, there are hundreds upon hundreds of uncredited art pieces of Obama. But the majority, nobody knows who they are.""




As far as I know, this article will not be available online, so hustle on down to your local brick & mortar to get a copy. There is also a great interview with Maya Soetoro-Ng if art is not your bag.