Paint by Numbers: Our Founding Fathers

from Glenn Beck's website

As much as I respect the message that Beck is sending with his Faith, Hope and Charity posters, I’m bothered by the non-originality and mediocre artistic talent they exhibit.

Let’s not forget Shepard Fairey is nothing more than a street “artist” – a graffiti painter – a tagger. He’s done nothing but paint over an original AP photograph. I’ve written before about how this is done and how easy it is to do. A little Photoshop education, and anyone can do this. It takes no talent. Obama Hope is nothing more than a paint by numbers, just as what Beck’s posters are.

And something is diminished in them when Beck goes to Fairey for his inspiration. The message is loud and clear: a second rate knock off of a third rate artist.  Every time the Obama Hope poster is used as inspiration for anything more serious than this:

the subject is trivialized.  It cheapens the inspiration and the message, but more importantly, it intensely diminishes the heroic subjects;  i.e. Jefferson, Washington, Franklin and

Can’t we be more original and pay homage to our great leaders without relying on a no-talent spray painter to show us the way?

Fairey will go down in art (and political) history as being like Warhol – in the right circle of friends, at the right time. And being the no-talent spring board for a very poor representation of our admiration for our greatest heros.