Bengaluru: The Obamas unveiled their first official portrait together on Monday. The massive 9 foot-by-10 foot painting will be on display in the Hope and Change lobby at the Obama Presidential Center, which opens on 19 June.
Painted by Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based artist, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, the piece features former US president Barack Obama sitting on a table and former first lady, Michelle Obama sitting on a chair in front of him. The painting is ripe with references—a bust of Martin Luther King Jr, the Emmy award (Obama has three), and books by the Obamas and others such as White Teeth by Zadie Smith on the shelf.
The painting is made in Crosby’s signature style and employs collage and photo transfers—pictures from the Obama family archives and their public lives.
Crosby, a recipient of MacArthur Fellowship Genius grant, used acrylic paint, colored pencils, charcoal, and transfers on paper to create the painting.
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, Crosby says she surrounded the Obamas with objects from their respective pasts: a volume of the Harvard Law Review published during his tenure as the journal’s first Black president; a copy of Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book, the first album she ever owned.
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The Obama Presidential Center
The Obama Presidential Center is a 19.3-acre campus in Chicago’s historic Jackson Park. It features a state-of-the-art Museum, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a multipurpose athletic center and more.
The Center has been in the works since 2014 and is helmed by the Obama Foundation. “Designed to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world, the campus features a diverse array of public spaces,” describes the center’s website.
The campus, which opens on 19 June, is open daily and is free of charge.
The opening date coincides with the federal holiday of Juneteenth. It commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
“The Obamas were very involved in selecting the artists and the kinds of messages that the artists intended to deliver,” said Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarret.