Neo-Black art

Oh, man! The social conservatives are having a field day with the unveiling of the official Obama portraits.

 

[go here and click on the image for an enlargement. not sure why that feature doesn’t work here] http://themillenniumreport.com/2018/02/obamas-official-portrait-reveals-dirty-little-secret/

 Here’s a good one:

https://www.infowars.com/obama-portraits-destroyed-on-social-media/

It’s rather odd. It was thoughtful of Obama to use a black artist for his official portrait, to underscore his identification with African American culture. One might expect a more sensitive treatment than perhaps  a white artist would bring to the subject. More authentically black, if there is such a thing. But look very closely (zoom zoom zoom) at the image of Obama. Is it just me or does Obama have wavy hair? Surely an artist capable of the meticulous detail displayed throughout the rest of the painting should have been able to recreate the (very African) texture of Obama’s hair. Instead he gives Obama the apparent coif of a white man. Michelle too is depicted with rather Caucasian looking hair. Very curious indeed.