Ron English: The Obama/Lincoln Poster

Ron English is a New York-based artist whose subversive billboards have been popping up around the country for years, provoking all kinds of entertaining speculation about what he is trying to communicate.  The most memorable is a perfectly-crafted mockery of the Apple ‘Think Different’ billboard and magazine campaign that featured the face of someone known as an original thinker accompanied by the text “think different” and the ubiquitous striped Apple logo.  Ron’s billboard looked exactly like the Apple ads – except the image was of Chares Manson.  He is also a masterful painter whose pop interpretations of Picasso’s Guernica are undoubtedly post-modern masterpieces.

English’s Obama Lincoln posters started appearing on walls around the country just before the Democratic National Convention and have attracted the sort of commentary that first greeted the Shepard Fairey Obama posters.  Anyone familiar with English’s art knows his work is both pointed and playful.   “You joke with your friends and preach to those you look down on,” he says.  He hopes the poster will encourage people to think about the historical context of Obama’s candidacy.

The inspiration for the poster came from something English heard on a conservative talk radio show.  The commentator was deriding Obama’s lack of experience in national politics but mentioned that Lincoln had almost the same amount of national experience before he assumed office.   Creating the Obama/Lincoln image was an eerie experience.  “When I first superimposed Obama’s face over Lincoln’s, the features lined up perfectly.  That never happens.  It gave me chills.”
English is unabashedly partisan, “This is a historic race,” he says, “and it’s an opportunity for us as a country to redeem ourselves.” 

Collectors of Obamiana and anyone interested in Ron’ English’s work can check out his website at www.popaganda.com