Artwork copyright is owned by each individual artist.
To read artists' statements and biographies click here
An exhibition of historic importance.
Visions of Our 44th President is a collective sculptural show created to recognize and celebrate the historical significance of the first African-American President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
Forty-four Contemporary African-American Artists, renowned and emerging, are participating in this avant-garde art collaboration with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the world's largest institution dedicated to the African-American experience, and Peter Kaplan of Our World, LLC.
Dynamic and inspiring, the exhibition includes 44 artists’ interpretations of our 44th President in life-size, three-dimensional form. In essence, each sculpture is a blank canvas upon which artists imaginatively celebrate the man, his presidency and our history.
The Visions of Our 44th President exhibition will travel to prestigious museums, universities, libraries and galleries across the country. At each venue, an interactive art and history program in conjunction with an Artist Symposium will benefit children of all ages. At the conclusion of the tour, the collection will become a part of The Wright Museum’s permanent collection.
Visions of Our 44th President inspires present and future generations with its messages of diversity, hope and possibility.
Interested in having your institution host the Visions of Our 44th President exhibition?
CLICK HERE
BARACK OBAMA
Presidential Bronze
AN EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY
We invite you to join us!
For more information or to acquire a bust contact PETER KAPLAN | peter@44thpresident.us
Limited-Edition, Lost Wax Cast Bronze
Dimensions: 21.5" high; 17" wide; 12.5" deep including granite base
Sculpture: ©Matthew Gonzales
This historic, limited-edition, life-sized bronze bust of President Barack Obama is signed and numbered by the artist, Matthew Gonzales.
World renowned Artworks Foundry of Berkeley, California is producing:
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A Limited Edition of 250 bronze busts
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PLUS: 25 each of Artist, Foundry
and Museum Proofs
ACQUISITION SUGGESTIONS:
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Gift to a public or private organization
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Gift in memory of or to honor a loved one
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Gift to your Alma Mater
If designated as a gift, an engraved plaque acknowledging the donor and the recipient will be permanently affixed to and displayed on the granite base.
Limited-Edition, Lost Wax Cast Bronze Dimensions: 21.5" high; 17" wide; 12.5" deep including granite base Sculpture: ©Matthew Gonzales
Exhibition Catalog
COLLECTORS EDITION
Our beautifully produced 32 page hard cover book with endsheets and vellum overlay featuring photos of all 44 busts in the Visions of Our 44th President Exhibition with each artist's statement. Also included is a two page spread highlighting the Bronze Sculpture of President Barack Obama plus the genesis of this history-making project.
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, in partnership with Peter Kaplan of Our World, LLC, presents Visions of Our 44th President, an exhibition of realistic, life-sized busts designed, painted, and/or embellished by 44 contemporary African-American artists. Commemorating the historical significance of Barack Obama’s presidency, Visions of Our 44th President is an exhibit of historic importance.
THE PROCESS
The Bronze
The bust was sculpted by artist Matthew Gonzales then cast in bronze by Artworks Foundry in Berkeley, CA. This is the original bronze model used for casting the resin busts that were painted and/or embellished for the exhibition.
Matthew says, “As a portrait and figurative sculptor, I relished the opportunity to sculpt our president, Barack Obama. Over a year as a work-in-process, my goal was to create the realistic, life-sized bust in stages—first in clay, then lost-wax, then finished bronze and finally cast-resin— which would become the ‘blank canvas’ for artists to paint and/or embellish. I am honored, awed and humbled to be a part of the creativity, talent and vision that is incorporated into this historic exhibition.”
The Visions Story
The Interpretive Busts
Resin busts, cast from the bronze then gessoed, served as blank canvasses, giving 44 African-American artistic visionaries free reign to interpret this milestone in history.
“Viewing each artist’s work, one will experience so many different emotions, understanding their talent, inspiration and creativity,” states Peter Kaplan of Our World, LLC. Kaplan was artistic director of one of the official posters for the 2008 Obama campaign and through that association of creativity and purpose, Visions of Our 44th President became Peter’s dream and focus.
To read artists' statements and biographies click here.
Artwork copyright is owned by each individual artist.
THE EXHIBITION
Through a collaboration with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Visions exhibit became a reality. Expertly curated by Ashley Whitfield, the exhibition experience is dynamic, educational and thought-provoking.
Four years in the making, this unprecedented undertaking portrays a present-day historical achievement in world history through contemporary art. It is The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History’s first national traveling exhibition.
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History was founded in 1965 by Dr. Charles Wright, a Detroit obstetrician who envisioned an institution to preserve black history. In the ensuing thirty years the museum outgrew two smaller facilities before opening at its present location in Midtown Detroit’s Cultural Center in 1997. At 125,000 square feet and with a collection of over 35,000 artifacts, it is the largest museum of African-American history in the world.
The impact of The Wright Museum goes far beyond its physical footprint. The museum provides needed educational opportunities to thousands of children throughout Metropolitan Detroit and the region, and serves over a half million people per year—locally, nationally, and internationally—through its exhibits, programs, websites, and events such as African World Festival, which celebrates its 34th year in 2016.
The museum is a vital part of Michigan’s arts and cultural community, which in sum generates more than $2 billion dollars in economic activity and tourism dollars annually for the State of Michigan. The museum has taken a leadership role in the cultural resurgence of Detroit as a doorway for emerging artists in all disciplines. Through its Contemporary Artists Program highlighting African-American visual artists and its more than 200 annual events, the museum serves as a stage for musicians, dancers, poets and performers of all cultural backgrounds as they take the next step in their careers.
As The Wright Museum celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, amazing projects came to fruition, including Visions of Our 44th President and Inspiring Minds, an exhibition highlighting African-American inventors, trailblazers, contemporaries, and careers in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Interested in having your institution host the Visions of Our 44th President exhibition?
Thank you!