Viral Irish political art as hard man Putin paints a pretty picture

THAT ICONIC Andy Warhol-style Barack Obama HOPE campaign poster created by California street and skateboard scene artist Shepard…

THAT ICONIC Andy Warhol-style Barack Obama HOPE campaign poster created by California street and skateboard scene artist Shepard Fairey, (the original of which now hangs in Washington’s National Portrait Gallery), has spawned at least a thousand imitations all over the world.

But for we Irish, few of the offspring are as delicious as that just knocked out here by a camera-shy fellow who goes by the monicker "the stenner" ( http://sites.google.com/site/thestenner/)

“I’d prefer to leave it as the stenner,” the Stenner e-mailed Magpie.

“I work too close to the coalface, if you know what I mean,” he said cryptically, adding (with Zen-like cryptic-ness), “we all swim in political waters one way or another, some are just deeper than others”.

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But then he got serious.

“The image was created just as a playful visual commentary on the current dichotomous political situation in the US and Ireland. Art as a medium isn’t usually utilised to illustrate these kind of things, but I just thought it ideal for the occasion . . .”

He (and I’m assuming, although why I’m not sure, that the Stenner is a he) says the Obama-Cowen-Kenny poster is just a bit of a giggle – “Warhol for the noughties. Viral art,” as he put it.

Magpie’s fairly confident Brian and Enda will not be sharing the giggle . . .

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STICKING WITH the arty theme, a picture sketched by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has fetched 37 million roubles (about €880,000) at a charity auction.

The painting of snowfall seen through a window, finished by a professional artist, features a sprawling “Putin” signature.

It was introduced at last Saturday’s auction with the words: “Here is a new artist.”

Well indeed. Vlad, the judo black belt holder who just loves – and furiously cultivates – his hard man image in the Russian media, is clearly a more sensitive soul than had been thought.

Guardianblogger Jonathan Jones was positively gushing. "Gentle, unthreatening and slight his painting may be, but it is not naive," he judged.

“It is, rather, faux-naive in the way it pays homage to St Petersburg’s avant-garde a century ago, when artists such as Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova were adopting Russian rustic styles.

“Putin’s picture pastiches Larionov. There is even a conceptual touch in his writing the word for ‘pattern’ on the picture. In short, this is stylish and witty for an amateur painting, showing surprising knowledge of art.”

Moscow gallery owner Natalya Kurnikova agreed and forked out, saying the painting could be the first and last of its kind.

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WITH THE Australian government reporting that for recession-hit Irish young people, life Down Under is once again proving attractive, would-be migrants might like to consider giving some thought to applying for what is described as the “best job in the world”.

The job, caretaker on a tropical island, requires no formal qualifications except being willing and able to swim, snorkel, and sail.

In return, the successful applicant will receive a salary of about €74,000 . . . for just six months’ “work”. They also get to live in a rent-free villa, with swimming pool.

The succesful applicant will work for just 12 hours a month. Duties include feeding some of the hundreds of species of fish and collecting the island’s mail. They will also need to produce a blog, a photo diary and video updates to attract tourists to the area.

Over 2,000 video applications have already been received by the Tourism Queensland website and more are expected before the February 22nd deadline.