Film Producer Accuses NEA of Enlisting Artists to Push Obama's Domestic Agenda

FoxNews.com ^ | August 28, 2009 | Joshua Rhett Miller

[ETL]

[snip]

Courrielche said officials on the hour-long call -- including NEA Director of Communications Yosi Sergant and Michael Skolnik, political director for hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons -- encouraged the artists on the line to create works of art in their respective fields related to health care, energy and the environment.

"What I heard was a well thought-out pitch to encourage artists to create art on these issues," Courrielche told FOXNews.com. "We were told we were consulted for a reason, and they specifically stated those issues as the issues we should focus on, to plant the seed. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what they're attempting to do."

[snip]

"The word volunteerism was never used," Courrielche said. "Service was the word being used and it was in specific areas, those being health care, energy and the environment."

Courrielche said the now ubiquitous Obama "Hope" poster by artist Shepard Fairey and musician will.i.am's "Yes We Can" song and music video were offered as "shining examples" of the artist group's clear impact on Obama's landslide election.

The "potential propaganda machine," Courrielche said, is concerning on many levels.

"The issue that troubles me the most is that the NEA was set up to promote the arts," he said. "If you have a meeting where you're trying to set up a machine that does your bidding, a propaganda machine, that's not what the National Endowment for Arts is for."

[ETL]

"Courrielche said the now ubiquitous Obama 'Hope' poster by artist Shepard Fairey and musician will.i.am's 'Yes We Can' song and music video were offered as 'shining examples' of the artist group's clear impact on Obama's landslide election."

From Barack Obama's official website:

“I wanted to make an art piece of Barack Obama because I thought an iconic portrait of him could symbolize and amplify the importance of his mission. I believe Obama will guide this country to a future where everyone can thrive and I should support him vigorously for the sake of my two young daughters. I have made art opposing the Iraq war for several years, and making art of Obama, who opposed the war from the start, is like making art for peace. I know I have an audience of young art fans and I’m delighted if I can encourage them to see the merits of Barack Obama.”

-Shepard Fairey

________________________________________________________

Note: if this original link doesn't work any longer, try the second one:
http://store.barackobama.com/Artists_for_Obama_s/1018.htm

http://students.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/external_organizing
________________________________________________________

See? It's all about "peace, love, togetherness", "Hope" and "Change".

Here are some of Fairey's other masterpieces. No joke. Most of his works are along these same lines (anti-American, pro-communist propaganda). Check the link.

Source: The Jonathan Levine Gallery:
Note: on 8/5/09, I discovered that nearly all of Fairey's images were removed from this web page.
http://jonathanlevinegallery.com/?method=Artist.ArtistDetail&ArtistID=F65EBB86-3048-28EB-92D55AA4FC996E31&GalleryID=82C33C59-3048-28EB-92DB386C8C733405

________________________________________________________

From Shepard Fairey's official website (ObeyGiant.com):

Check it out! I got a thank you note from Barack Obama. If he is elected, maybe I have a get out of jail free card. All kidding aside, I’m honored to be acknowledged by someone so important to the future of our country. Also, the Obama campaign asked me to do a poster illustration for sale on their site. It should be out next week on barackobama.com.-Shepard
http://obeygiant.com/post/check-it-out
________________________________________________________

Here is the 'thank you' letter Barack Obama sent to Shepard Fairey:
"Dear Shepard, I would like to thank you for using your talent in support of my campaign. The political messages involved in your work have encouraged Americans to believe they can help change the status quo. Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign. I am privileged to be a part of your artwork and proud to have your support. I wish you continued success and creativity.

Sincerely, Barack Obama.'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/16/AR2008051601017.html

Source for letter image: Fairey's own website (ObeyGiant.com):
http://obeygiant.com/post/check-it-out

If the image of the letter should 'vanish' from Fairey's website, try this link:
http://www.notcot.com/images/obama_letter-to-shepard-fairey.jpg

_________________________________________________________________

Portrait of Angela Davis by Obama artist Shepard Fairey:

Angela Davis

Source: The Jonathan Levine Gallery (link given above)

Also here:
Angela Davis by Obey Giant, Shepard Fairey:
http://www.zimbio.com/Shepard+Fairey/articles/63/Angela+Davis+Obey+Giant+Shepard+Fairey

_________________________________________________________________

From David Horowitz's FrontPageMag.com/DiscoverTheNetworks.org:
PROFILE: ANGELA DAVIS

* Communist professor at the University of California’s Santa Cruz campus
* Recipient of the Lenin “Peace Prize” from the police state of East Germany in 1979
* Provided an arsenal of weapons to Black Panthers who used them to kill a Marin Country judge in a failed attempt to free Davis' imprisoned lover, Black Panther murderer George Jackson
* Icon of the campus Left and frequent guest speaker at anti-war rallies
* Leader of a movement to free all criminals who are minorities claiming that they are political prisoners of the racist United States
* “The only path of liberation for black people is that which leads toward complete and radical overthrow of the capitalist class.”

Angela Yvonne Davis is a tenured professor in the “History of Consciousness” program at the University of California - Santa Cruz. A former member of the Black Panther Party, she is currently a “University Professor,” one of only seven in the entire California University system, which entitles her to a six-figure salary and a research assistant. This income is supplemented by speaking fees ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 per appearance on college campuses, where she is an icon of radical faculty, administrators, and students. Davis has also taught at UCLA and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1303

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Also by Shepard Fairey, Obama's personal icon artist...

http://www.duckywaddles.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=171
________________________________________________________

http://www.duckywaddles.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=744
________________________________________________________

"Stalin Lenin", Shepard Fairey,
limited edition silkscreen, signed
and numbered. 18"X24" *SOLD OUT*
Source: http://www.duckywaddles.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=429

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Check it out! I got a thank you note from Barack Obama. If he is elected, maybe I have a get out of jail free card"
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

VIDEO: Obama icon artist, Shepard Fairey, discusses his numerous arrests (13!) in this May 2008 alternative media interview
(2:32 minutes):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozeTXRa7_zo&feature=related
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Street artist Shepard Fairey, who designed Obama 'Hope' poster, arrested for graffiti in Boston
[...make that *14* arrests!]

NY Daily News | February 7th 2009

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/02/07/2009-02-07_street_artist_shepard_fairey_who_designe.html
________________________________________________________

"Fairey Anti-Bush"

"Bush Hell"

Source:
http://www.thegiant.org/wiki/index.php/Special:Search?search=bush&fulltext=Search

[ETL]

“The National Endowment for the Arts initiated a “call to action” earlier this month for members of the art community to push President Obama’s recovery agency through works that focus on health care, energy and the environment — a troubling sign, one artist said.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/28/nea-allegedly-calls-artists-focus-health-care-energy/

[DocH]

Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, would be proud of his fellow Socialist - Hussein Obama.

[lionheart 247365]

I want to see the image of Barrak 0bama submersed in a vat of urine and put on display in a museum so thousands of people a week can view it .

Now that’s what I call “ Fair and Balanced “ art .

[wildandcrazyrussian]

Sounds like “Socialist Realism” under Stalin to me.

[ETL]

>Sounds like “Socialist Realism” under Stalin to me.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%E2%80%9CSocialist+Realism%E2%80%9D&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35

[Anima Mundi]

Real artists hate this guy because he is a copier. Also, I had never seen O’s signature and there is something disturbing about it.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Real artists hate this guy because he is a copier. Also, I had never seen O’s signature and there is something disturbing about it.
_________________________________________________

Looks like the sig of a narcissist to me. Big ‘B’.....big ‘O’.

[ETL]

Real artists hate this guy because he is a copier. Also, I had never seen O’s signature and there is something disturbing about it.

Forget the signature and Fairey's copying of other artists, what about Obama's embracing of a commie propagandist like Shepard Fairey? Isn't that a 'wee bit' more disturbing?

[Candor7]

I have a reply:

[ETL]

[ETL]

[TrishaSC]

I sign my signature like that and I hope that doesn’t mean I’m a narcissist. :) The thing that gets me is the O. The B comes down almost in the middle of the 0. I think this is a subconscious reaction to him being half white and black. I believe that Obama has some deep issues with this. I wonder what his life with his grandmother and mother was truly like.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

I use ‘bold initials’ like that....but, then again....we’re ‘girls’. LOL! :)

Yeah, I can’t imagine what his ‘upbringing’ was like.

[dalebert]

you know its supposed to be the “useful arts” and not this stuff accroding to the constitution.

[TrishaSC]

LOL!!!
I did a quick search on Barack Obama handwriting Analysis. This is hilarious. The analyst has 4 posts. The first 2 preelection. The last two in May of this year. Prior to his election the reviewer said that BO craved attention like you said. Said he was caring,great speaker..blah blah. Well in the last post starts with

“Since there was a concern that I may have not uncovered inherent evil in Obama’s handwriting I thought I would make a few more comments.” He continues to attempt to be an apologist but finds it harder and harder.

LOL...

http://www.freeread.com/archives/3880.php

[TMA62]

Courrielche is now realizing that he was a useful idiot of Hussien and the dems?? While this is hilarious at first, this could prove to be good news as all those young followers begin to wake up and realize they were used as tools and now being thrown away.

[Anima Mundi]

It isn’t about what is disturbing. It is about what will wake up people disposed to be in his camp...ie much of the artist community. Sad but true that exposing the artist as a fraud is more of an indictment in their minds than being a communist, but it offers an inroad into their mindset..ie:

The artist is a ripoff, he is connected to the O and so maybe the whole O-show is a fraud.

You can’t just walk up to someone like this and say that Obama is a commie and expect to get anything but laughed at. Now, I do not mind being laughed at...however the goal is to get people to see. You can’t get people to see by going from zero to 100....you have to take them from where they are, start at the doubt that THEY have and then try to expand it. And you have to remember that they learned a certain distorted American History in school.

If you read the blog of the artist and the comments of the other artists, it is quite encouraging how they see Obama and it is about the first thing I have found that might not be dismissed out of hand or excused by these people. In addition, if the real artists turn, many of the wine and cheese crowd will simply follow them because they are “cool” and “edgy”. True story.

[fortunecookie]

It's so reminiscent of Soviet era propaganda art. Soooo reminiscent it's quite nearly a rip off of Soviet art.

I know I have an audience of young art fans and I’m delighted if I can encourage them to see the merits of Barack Obama.”

Bravo, Mr. Fairey, socialism lives to insipidly undermine another generation. Comrade Stalin would be proud...