125. Gradient [2009]

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125. Gradient [2009]

Valeriu Mladin

1958, Lipova

Estimate:

EUR 15.000 - 20.000

Not sold

oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm, 150 Ã 200 cm, signed and dated right side, with grey, "MLADIN, 2009"

Research information

The artwork was part of the "Superheroes/Antiheroes â TendinÈe Ã®n arta contemporanÄ romÃ¢neascÄ" ("Superheroes/Antiheroes â Trends in Romanian Contemporary Art") exhibition, Art Safari 2021, BucureÈti. The artwork was part of the "44" exhibition, Bucharest, 2010.

The election of a black president to lead the world's most powerful state was seen as a victory for democracy and freedom of expression. The title of the original exhibition of which the work was part, "44", corresponds to Obama's accession number as US President. Misled by a slight mix-up by the President of the Supreme Court, Barack Obama had a lightning-fast hesitation when pronouncing the oath of office at his investiture as President of America, and so the ceremony had to be re-enacted the next day, within a limited audience, with his left hand on the same Bible used by Abraham Lincoln at his investiture in 1861. "GRADIENT's black-and-white morphing juxtaposes the well-known "mirrored" marble statue of Abraham Lincoln (by Chester French for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington) with an imaginary bronze statue of Barack Obama. The association is a direct reference to the filiation between the political ideologies and reform projects of the two American presidents." (Valeriu Mladin)

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