EMEK "Obama Bomaye" 2008 Pre-Election Silkscreen with Hillary Clinton

Red Border Edition (#145 of 200) This "Obama Bomaye” print was made to benefit the '08 Obama election campaign and it sold out in seconds on Emek's website on July 8, 2008. It is 11" x 16", was limited to 100 with a red border and 100 with a black border and is a two-color silkscreen. Additionally, it is hand signed, embossed, numbered, doodled (peace sign) and in absolutely mint condition. The playful image of Senator John McCain on the mat actually was extracted from a photo of him in a warm embrace with George Bush during Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. A framed example is shown for reference only that shows it's relative size compared to the larger, very rare version. Hillary Rodham Clinton is shown in the lower left corner watching the metaphorical fight, which is prophetic considering her second run for president ~ as if waiting in the wings. Running in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, Clinton won far more primaries and delegates than any other female candidate in American history, but narrowly lost the nomination to Obama.  The image is based on one of the most famous sports photographs in history. On February 25, 1964, underdog Cassius Clay, age 22, defeated champion Sonny Liston in a technical knockout to win the world heavyweight boxing crown. The highly anticipated match took place in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay, who later became known to the world an Muhammad Ali, went on to become the first fighter to capture the heavyweight title three times. While a Senator in Washington, President Obama had a copy of this photograph on his office wall on Capital Hill and has compared himself to the great and noble fighter. "Ali Bomaye" was Ali's most famous cheer in Africa and political battles are described as boxing matches.   This poster is shown on page 109 in Hal Wert's collection of 160 Barack Obama street posters that was assembled into a 188 page book, "Hope: A Collection of Obama Posters and Prints," published by Zenith Press. Wert, a professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, has made campaign art a specialty. The collection ranges from corny to cool, with an occasional disconcerting nod to old-style social realism. The images within this comprehensive book offer a fun romp through the Obama-mania of the 2008 presidential election. About Emek: Emek (born Emek Golan in Israel in 1970) is a popular artist, graphic designer and illustrator who has designed concert posters since the early 1990s. He is widely credited with helping to revive the rock poster scene. In November 2006, The Oregonian described how people from miles away flocked to a San Francisco poster show to get a chance to see and buy his work. The article hailed him as "a savior of rock 'n' roll. Not the music, but the art".  In December 2007, Billboard magazine named the top 25 rock posters of all time. EMEK garnered 3 spots on the list, the most of any single artist. Emek's style, known for its attention to detail and layers of meaning, infuses socio-political commentary into pop culture imagery. In the tradition of psychedelic posters from the 1960s, Emek still draws his posters by hand. He was shaped by both rock art posters from the 1960s, and punk flyers from the 1980s. He studied art at California State University at Northridge. Emek's poster-making career accelerated in the 1990s with alternative rock acts from Europe and North America, including Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Tool, Marilyn Manson and The Decemberists. Over the last decade, Emek's work has been shown in galleries across the United States, in Berlin, London and Tokyo. Emek incorporates traditional styles, from Russian constructivism to Asian woodblock. But he is also known for melting the mechanical with the organic, part of a statement on technology, consumerism and conservation. College professors use his political imagery in classes and textbooks. Punk rocker and poet Henry Rollins dubbed Emek "the thinking man’s poster artist”. Showing a cunning, wry sense of humor often found in his art, Emek has described his own work as "aaarght."