The British Election is rarely a glamorous affair. It is difficult to imagine Gordon Brown, David Cameron or Nick Clegg providing the necessary impact for an image as iconic as Shepard Fairey’s Hope poster of Barack Obama, which proved so vital a part of the 2008 presidential campaign. Barack Obama and John McCain went head to head three times on prime time television during their campaigns, and now the British too are taking part in spectacles of this kind for the first time, in the form of the TV Leader debates which began on Thursday and will continue on April 22nd and April 29th.
Steven Barrett has in response made a series of portraits depicting Nick Cleg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron, among other domestic political figures. They now find themselves in unlikely company – the subjects of Barrett’s previous portraits include Lauren Bacall, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Elvis. Works can be viewed on our website and orders can be placed directly. While the Obama poster was quickly readied for mass-reproduction, Barrett’s portraits of British politicians will be limited to a series of only 25.
Barrett uses iconic images and influences from popular culture – and where the medium of glitter has often provided a complement to the subject matter of the portraits, it now provides a sly counterpoint. It might be noted that Barrett is enamoured with kitsch; his portraits are made entirely of glitter and he habitually turns his attention to subjects with cult status and mass appeal – those he turns his eye to now are aspiring icons, about to be subject to a scrutiny never before endured in British politics. Milan Kundera once wrote that “Before we are forgotten, we will be turned into kitsch. Kitsch is the stopover between being and oblivion.”
Buy from Only £250 www.newbloodart.com
