With Glastonbury in full swing and independence day coming up, it feels like a great time to revisit the portraiture of artist Amit Shimoni. His work originally did the rounds around the end of last year and since then he’s been enjoying coverage for his ‘HIPSTORY’ series of digital paintings throughout much of Europe and the US. Above we see the Queen sporting a floral wreath worthy of the trendiest of sodden Somerset fields and a delicate statement piece choker necklace. One has to be modest.
Shimoni states that his work aims to re imagine the way in which we view the inspirational figures of the political past and present, placing them firmly in the present and giving them all virtual loyalty cards to a few high street shops I’d decline to name. Obama, complete with gold chain, horseshoe earring and ‘Hope/Change’ tattoos, has been given a complete makeover in order to reflect his oft perceived trendy image and cool guy attitude. Whilst some of his outfitting choices are dubious (Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara appears to be buying into corporate branding a little to easily for a militant Marxist, though perhaps it’s poking fun at the very fact Che’s face itself has been capitalised upon beyond all belief in some kind of gross irony) it’s a fun project all the same and Shimoni has managed to work little elements of each icons character into every portrait.
Take some time to enjoy the rest of his portraits (Shimoni doesn’t aim to offend) and bask in the glory of Winston Churchill rocking a look that any aspiring hipster could only dream of.
Check out the rest of Shimoni’s work and see how many famous figures you can recognise based on their hipster counterparts alone.
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