Russell Young

The Art World’s Newest Inspiration: Obama OLIVIA COLE Not content with making political history, the President-elect was everywhere at Art Basel in Miami, says Olivia Cole

LA-based British artist Russell Young’s portrayal was the most provocative. Known for his edgy examinations of celebrities in the media, Young is a long-term supporter of Obama and has met him several times. His depiction is a sparkling silver silkscreen double image of Obama in mid-speech, one a photographic reproduction and the other a negative of the same picture showing Obama almost as white. It is based on a picture Young took of the president-elect at a small rally in February 2007 when victory looked unlikely.

Young, told me that he was inspired to do the work by Obama’s ‘really honest moment’ about his drug use as a student. ‘I always knew that I would want to do a portrait of him but I didn’t want to do something that was just about heroic victory.’ The screenprints are done using Warhol’s own screen-printing machinery in upstate New York. Some of the works are covered with a sheen of sparkling diamond dust — possibly an allusion to another kind of powdery dust, and a perennial issue for politicians.

The Obama portraits were shown by Keszler Gallery as part of a series titled ‘Cocaine’, examining the presence of the drug in society and including Young’s depictions of figures from Kate Moss to the Colombian drugs baron Pablo Escobar.

‘The next president of the United States admitted cocaine use. It’s not like Clinton and not inhaling ‘ said Young. ‘Without being ridiculously idealistic, I see that moment as the centrepiece of a new honesty in political life.’ The work is to be shown in an exhibition at the White House later this month.