obama art

I am not American. I am not into politics. But - for once - there is something inspiring about the current US political race, thanks to Barack Obama. This collective inspiration is manifesting itself in many forums - including the visual arts. There seem to be so many artists out there right now who want to show their support for Obama - and in turn inspire others.

Obama art. It's everywhere.

The best known Obama artworks to date are, of course, the posters recently created by uberfamous street artist Obey, aka Shepard Fairey. Creativity magazine interviewed Obey about his motivation behind the prints - which sold out in a mere 15 minutes.

Other graphic artists have also been inspired to show their support. Some are quite similar in style and palette, such as Gemini Studio's "Yes We Can" poster and The Mac's "HOPE" poster -- but damn, check out The Mac's fine brushwork!

Xtrapop created this retro-style Obama 08 poster (below centre), as well as this variation in warmer hues. The Date Farmers created a Mexican street art influenced poster that calls out for "!Cambio!" (below left). CRO, aka Ray Noland, has been postering up Chicago with smooth pro-Obama signage since last summer (below right).



Jill Dryer (who's usually here) made this cute poster of lines of birds who "Stand 4 Change", and another Obama bird poster, too.

Crafters have also been showing their colours. A quick search for the keyword "Obama" on Etsy brings up a surprising number of results -- today there are 132 Obama items for sale.

Alcove Press' "I want to Barack your world" cards were originally created for Valentine's Day, the cards were so popular that they brought back them back - so now you can spread the O-love all year round.



Holliday's "Obama is sexy" wallet features some nice silkscreening and colour choices.

There are lots of ways to show your Obama support through jewellery: a few options are SquishyMatter's "Obama Mama" and "Obamaphile" pendants, "Vote Obama" charm necklaces by matsudabunch and SilverStones, and beaded necklaces and bracelets by leeza888. On the more, let's say, bold end of the spectrum are cbtscloset's earrings of Obama's face.

Taking it to the next level, the able-fingered Etchasketchist twisted and turned to produce a portrait of Obama on an etch-a-sketch.

And last but not least: the weirdest Obamarama-inspired piece is certainly joanmwyand's "Go Obama 2008" political moustache pin. I love staches as much as the next gal - but am I missing the connection here?