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Barack Obama "Hope" Poster

A stylized stencil portrait of Barack Obama in solid red, solid beige, and solid and lined blue with the word "Hope" below.

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  • A stylized stencil portrait of Barack Obama in solid red, solid beige, and solid and lined blue with the word "Hope" below.

Date:

2008

Artist:

Shepard Fairey
American, born 1970

About this artwork

Street artist, graphic designer, and activist Shepard Fairey created this visionary portrait of then Senator Barack Obama in 2008 as a form of grassroots activism to support Obama’s first presidential campaign. Fairey based the work on an Associated Press photograph by Mannie Garcia, which he transformed with his signature high-contrast stencil technique, inspired by the political message and bold graphics of Soviet Socialist Realism. First disseminated as a street poster, the image was later used to create thousands of stickers and T-shirts and was widely circulated online.

Emblazoned with the word “Hope” and featuring reds and blues that complement the campaign logo designed by Sol Sender, Fairey’s portrait was quickly adopted as an official image of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl called the poster “the most efficacious American political illustration since ‘Uncle Sam Wants You.’”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Architecture and Design

Artist

Shepard Fairey (Designer)

Title

Barack Obama "Hope" Poster

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

2008

Medium

Color lithograph on white wove paper

Dimensions

86 × 61 cm (36 × 24 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Rick Valicenti

Reference Number

2015.420

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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