Creator of iconic ‘Hope’ poster questions Obama’s record
Artist says president ‘could have done more’ on his progressive agenda despite obstruction by Congress
THE artist behind Barack Obama’s famous “Hope” campaign poster says the US president has failed to live up to his expectations.
Shepard Fairey, who created the image for the 2008 presidential election campaign, said Mr Obama had “gone quiet on a lot of things” during his two terms in the White House.
Mr Fairey said: “I worked really hard for [Mr Obama] so I had high hopes – pun intended.
“I think he ended up probably being very frustrated with the things he encountered. I think history will be fairly kind on his presidency, but I want things to move further in the direction that he promised as a campaigner.
“He’s been more outspoken in the last 18 months. I think he’s going out having done some good things and said some good things. But there were about six years there where I think he could have done more.”
Mr Fairey, who has voiced his support for the Left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders in the race to become the next president, said Mr Obama was an “amazing communicator” but had not spoken out on some issues.
Speaking at the Museum of Contemporary Art gala in Los Angeles, he said: “Even if [Mr Obama] was met with gridlock in government, in Congress, if he had been as outspoken as he was as a campaigner, I would give him a pass on not being able to push through some of the progressive things I hoped he would. But he was quiet on a lot of things. That to me was unfortunate.” Mr Fairey’s stencil portrait of Mr Obama in red, beige and blue, featuring the word “Hope”, came to represent the Democrats’ 2008 presidential election campaign.
It has been widely copied including a version created for the Occupy movement and most recently for the political comedy television series
The image has also been used to contrast the optimism surrounding Mr Obama’s candidacy in 2008 with the realities of his presidency.
After Edward Snowden’s disclosures in 2013 showed the extent of NSA surveillance on Americans, a similar image was shared with Mr Obama’s “Yes We Can” slogan replaced with the words “Yes We Scan”.
Mr Obama’s critics have also shared the image with the word “Dope” inserted in place of “Hope”.