Obama 44 at 48

 

Obama 44 (2008); oil on canvas, 1.72 m by 1.72 m.

Obama 44 by Chinese contemporary artist Lee Shi-min is a large-format (oil on canvas, 1.72 m square) painting that incorporates Chinese characters for Barack Obama with a beautiful rendering of a dual set of Chinese characters for the number for forty-four which takes the form of a cross. The work employs the five Chinese symbolic colors red, black, green, yellow and blue, and was realized to commemorate the upcoming change of leadership in the United States, a positive, quantum leap forward for the American people, that is experiencing a groundswell of enthusiasm not felt since the Kennedy years.

Barack Obama, the presidential hopeful, was born on August 4, 1961, the 4th day of the 8th month of the Chinese year of the Ox. His anticipated historic inauguration in 2009 as the first African-American president in the history of the United States will coincide with the completion of four cycles of the Chinese animal zodiac in his 48th year of life. These auspicious indicators or signs have been deftly symbolized and represented in Obama 44.

Lee Shi-min on Obama
“As Obama epitomizes the new American dream,
Obama 44 expresses my affinity for the incumbent’s ethos,
as art is about freedom of expression, to beautify and change things for the better.”

Lee Shi-min
Chinese contemporary artist
(Beijing, August 2008)

奧巴馬44 在48

奧巴馬44 — 中國當代藝術家 李世民 以漢字繪成Barack Obama及中國數字四十四的正方形大油畫 (油畫畫布， 1.72 正方米)。 作品使用五種中國色彩的 : 紅，黑，綠，黃和藍色，作品以紀念美國領導者即將來臨的變化，美國人民的正面及進步的精神，從甘迺迪總統之後所少有的熱情。

Barack Obama，總統候選人，出生於1961年八月4日，中國生肖牛年的第8個月的第4天。 他期望的歷史就職典禮在2009年，正是他第48年的人生，也是他在中國生肖年的第四次循環的時候，將會寫在美國歷史上的第一位非洲裔總統。 這些代表幸運的標誌巧妙地出現在 奧巴馬44 這幅油畫中。

李世民關於奧巴馬 :
” 奧巴馬代表新的美國夢，
奧巴馬44  的藝術表現對自由和美好轉變的向往.”

李世民
中國當代藝術家(北京， 2008八月)

Obama 44, embossed version