George W. Bush Sourced All His Paintings From Google

[arcane1]

George W. Bush’s solo art show “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy” has just opened at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, Texas. Moving on from paintings of dogs and bath time, the exhibit features 30 oil-on-board paintings of world leaders. It appears as if they are all lazy reproductions of some of the first Google image search results.




Critic, artist and appropriation expert Greg Allen pointed this out:

…Bush painted his portraits, not just from photographs–a common enough practice as well as a long-established conceptual strategy, though I think only the former pertains here–but from the top search result on Google Images. Many photos were taken from the subject’s Wikipedia entry. Bush based his paintings on the literally first-to-surface, easiest-to-find photos of his subjects.

However, some critics did not seem to get the memo, like Roberta Smith, who writes in The New York Times, “The images seem legible and familiar, as if, as some have suggested, they were the first to pop up on Google.” Not “as if.” Literally.

More:
http://animalnewyork.com/2014/george-w-bush-took-paintings-google-images/


He's just as fake as George Zimmerman's "art"

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. He's not sharp enough to work the Photoshop gizmo. n/t

[uppityperson]

2. I'd rather have him painting than trying to anything important. What a doofus.

[Jamaal510]

3. What's up with Putin's forehead?

Why is it a different color than the rest of his face in the painting?

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Dubya hasn't gotten to the lesson on how to 'highlight' and create shadows.

[KurtNYC]

15. pretty much all the other examples are more even

It's like Bush didn't care or maybe he did the Putin first/early.

[hootinholler]

16. IT's that way in the photo

Just not as pronounced.

I can't believe the idiot son is proud of his efforts.

[Berlum]

4. How Republican is that?

George AWOL Bush is the consummate Republican. He cheats at everything he does

[GeorgeGist]

5. Must click

[notadmblnd]

7. I knew his painting looked like paint-by-number paintings for a reason

Good to see he's moved up from crayons when in his coloring mood.

[mercuryblues]

9. I thought the

same thing. Paint by numbers.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

8. He could of taken it a step further

and painted over projected images.

[Daemonaquila]

10. George & George - together at last.

Two psychopaths that go great together, with a passion for "painting."

[gulliver]

11. Could he really be that much of a complete jerk?

He probably thinks his paintings show his genius. The representational parts are exacting. The messed up parts are impressionistic to abstract. And there will be people who will call them good, post-modern. He googled them. Genius.

[Skittles]

12. why did he make Putin look like he had a stroke

[arcane1]

13. He was apparently focused entirely on the eyes

It's funny how much detail he gave them

[Jefferson23]

14. His paintings are dreadful. Paint by numbers asshole, he can't do anything right. n/t

[madokie]

17. I don't think America has ever had such a ignorant asshole for president as this mo'fo is

He's too stupid to even know it, Pickles though is well aware of it as is most Americans

[Agony]

18. Shrub is well schooled in painting...

take for example his favorite painting - "A Charge to Keep"{sic} Hanging in the Oval Office while he was pResident, he is so taken by the "hero" in the painting that he titles his autobiography thusly... Turns out that the painting actually depicts a horse thief and the original title is "The Slipper Tongue"... Ha Ha Ha! fracking idiot boy dim son!

You can't make this shit up...
http://harpers.org/blog/2008/01/the-illustrated-president/
"So Bush’s inspiring, proselytizing Methodist is in fact a horse thief fleeing from a lynch mob. It seems a fitting marker for the Bush presidency. Bush has consistently exhibited what psychologists call the “Tolstoy syndrome.” That is, he is completely convinced he knows what things are, so he shuts down all avenues of inquiry about them and disregards the information that is offered to him. This is the hallmark of a tragically bad executive. But in this case, it couldn’t be more precious. The president of the United States has identified closely with a man he sees as a mythic, heroic figure. In fact that man is a wily criminal one step out in front of justice. It perfectly reflects Bush the man . . . and Bush the president."

In all of its glory... "The Slipper Tongue"



and... here is the painting of a HORSE THIEF hanging in the Oval Office proudly showed off by the minor shrub himself.
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/president/oval-office-furnishings.html

You just. can't. make. this. shit. up.

In agony,
Agony

[arcane1]

19. I'm having retroactive embarrassment now.