Portraits of (clockwise from bottom left) former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, and the former president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak. All were painted by former President George W. Bush. Credit Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times
George W. Bush’s much-anticipated painting show opens tomorrow at the 43rd President’s library and museum on the SMU campus in Dallas! Foregoing the innocuous subject matter of his earliest paintings—dogs, bath time, cats—on view at the library will be a series of portraits of some of the world leaders that Bush encountered and engaged with while in office–Putin, Tony Blair, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the rest of the World Leader Crew.
In honor of the absolutely earnest hobby of GW, CentralTrak Artists Residency will be hosting a absolutely satirical show of reproductions of his work as organized by artist/curators Morehshin Allahyari and Julie McKendrick in collaboration with “Children of Artemis – Sketch Cult” – a regularly assembled group of Dallas-based artists at CentralTrak who make art in a communal setting. For the opening on Saturday night, George W. Bush himself (no, just kidding, a fake GW) will be in attendance, “available to pose for photographs and answer questions about his inspirations, techniques and future artistic projects.”
Also, “attendees are encouraged to add to the celebratory mood with creatively-themed costumes such fluffy bath-time robes or amateur painter’s smocks or even attend the event as a presidential pooch or kitty cat!”
The reception is on Saturday, April 5 , from 7pm to 10pm, at 800 Exposition Avenue, Dallas.
