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The Hidden Political Message of Michelle Obama’s Portrait Dress
Politico ^ | February 13, 2018 | By KIMBERLY CHRISMAN-CAMPBELL 3

Posted on 02/13/2018 1:28:12 PM PST by COUNTrecount

While the official portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama unveiled Monday were applauded by the art world—for their intense visual impact as much as the choice of Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, artists who are both critical darlings and the first African-Americans to paint presidential portraits commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery—there was plenty for the Twitterati to snark about. The wall of greenery behind President Obama was an obvious opening for jokes about his history with marijuana and Sean Spicer hiding in the White House bushes. Criticism of Michelle Obama’s portrait centered around two points. The face didn’t look much like her; some suggested it more closely resembles Kerry Washington, who plays a high-powered White House operative on Scandal. And the face—whoever it belonged to—was overshadowed by the striking, floor-length dress.

But there’s a reason for both of those criticisms: The dress is what says the most in this portrait, far more than the indistinct face.

First, the criticism about the lack of resemblance to the former first lady comes as no surprise to those of us familiar with the work of Sherald, a Baltimore-based artist. While she is best known for her stylized portraits of African-American women, they aren’t really portraits they depict anonymous subjects, under evocative titles contrasting grayscale skin tones against colorful clothing and a monochrome background. The neutral palette challenges racial stereotypes, while the flat plane evokes American folk art, At the unveiling, Sherald described the composition as “the act of Michelle Obama being her authentic self”—suggesting that she was aiming for something more than a mere superficial resemblance.

Secondly, there’s a reason why Obama’s face is the least interesting element here: The dress is as much a window into the former first lady’s identity as her face, and possibly a more accurate one.

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


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To: COUNTrecount

The big dress hides any notion of a jock strap or bulging man parts.


21 posted on 02/13/2018 1:46:37 PM PST by Chauncey Gardiner
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To: COUNTrecount

The good news is that the Obamas will be stuck with these terrible paintings forever, a fitting legacy.


22 posted on 02/13/2018 1:47:13 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Political Junkie Too

23 posted on 02/13/2018 1:48:07 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: IWontSubmit

ROFL!!!!!


24 posted on 02/13/2018 1:48:52 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: NorthMountain

The current First Lady is the only one who could pull it off!


25 posted on 02/13/2018 1:49:56 PM PST by t4texas (If you can't run with the big dogs . . . STAY ON THE PORCH!)
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To: COUNTrecount

arms look like elephant trunks. I always thought she should cover her arms.


26 posted on 02/13/2018 1:50:07 PM PST by morphing libertarian (Build Kate's Wall)
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To: upchuck
- Why does nobama appear to have a sperm on the side of his head?

Because he turned at the last second?

27 posted on 02/13/2018 1:50:43 PM PST by PGR88
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To: dainbramaged
"The Bamster’s gigantic left hand has an extra finger, too."

Either that, or he's holding his cigarette between his pinky and ring finger, which no one does in the real world.
28 posted on 02/13/2018 1:51:18 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: Steve_Seattle

My bad - the cigarette is in the doctored pic, not the original.


29 posted on 02/13/2018 1:52:15 PM PST by Steve_Seattle
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To: NorthMountain

They’re just following what used to be known as the “fashion world” before Michelle Obama became a FLOTUS.


30 posted on 02/13/2018 1:53:24 PM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: upchuck
Clint Eastwood nailed it.


31 posted on 02/13/2018 1:54:39 PM PST by COUNTrecount (If only Harvey Weinstein's bathrobe could talk.)
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To: dfwgator

It looks like a quilt or as LBJ said 50 plus years ago:

It’s like grandma’s nightshirt; it covers everything!” Such was President Lyndon Johnson’s reaction to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which now gave him a free hand in Vietnam to take “all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” Yet even with such sweeping presidential powers, historian Paul Johnson notes, “LBJ proved as indecisive over Vietnam as Kennedy was,” and a pattern of duplicity emerged whereby Johnson would tell the American public that the U.S. did not want a wider war while at the same time continuing to increase U.S. troop commitments.


32 posted on 02/13/2018 1:55:27 PM PST by t4texas (If you can't run with the big dogs . . . STAY ON THE PORCH!)
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To: t4texas

She could. Dolley Madison could probably have pulled it off in her youth as well. Pat Nixon and Nancy Reagan were too old, when they were First Lady, to get away with such shenanigans ... but could certainly have done so in their youth.


33 posted on 02/13/2018 1:55:56 PM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Steve_Seattle

Good point, maybe they can go into Hussein’s digital community organizer non library.


34 posted on 02/13/2018 1:56:54 PM PST by COUNTrecount (If only Harvey Weinstein's bathrobe could talk.)
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To: IWontSubmit

I will NEVER be able to un-see that.


35 posted on 02/13/2018 1:57:51 PM PST by SpinnerWebb (Winter is coming)
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To: Cowboy Bob

Why does Michelle have a tiny head?.....To house her tiny mind and emphasize her big mouth?


36 posted on 02/13/2018 1:58:08 PM PST by Safetgiver (Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: COUNTrecount

She has Millions of Hungry school children hiding under that dress


37 posted on 02/13/2018 1:58:25 PM PST by butlerweave
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To: Cowboy Bob

“Why does Michelle have a tiny head?”

It’s the right size for her tiny brain.


38 posted on 02/13/2018 1:59:21 PM PST by Magic Fingers (Political correctness mutates in order to remain virulent.)
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To: COUNTrecount

First time I’ve seen her with her sloppy mouth shut.

The real issue behind this hideous sham is that the artist specialized in pictures of white women having their heads cut off.

Imagine if the color tables were reversed. Sickening.


39 posted on 02/13/2018 1:59:43 PM PST by Fightin Whitey
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To: IWontSubmit

That’s the one I was afraid to post!


40 posted on 02/13/2018 1:59:57 PM PST by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust Sessions. The Great Awakening is at hand...MAGA!)
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