By Jillian Caddell @ Apollo Magazine, Oct. 25

Last week, former U.S. president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama named the artists who will paint their official portraits for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Commentators who looked forward to learning how the Obamas, noted patrons of the arts, would shake up the stuffy establishment tradition of (white, male) artists depicting (white, male) presidents were not disappointed. Kehinde Wiley, a portraitist famed for depicting African Americans he meets on the streets in the manner of European masters, will paint the former president, while Amy Sherald, who recently won the National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, will capture Mrs Obama’s likeness [....]

This really is as big of a deal as the writer is arguing. These choices are like forcing 21st-century radical elite liberal global cosmopolitan taste down the throat of staid Washington D.C. culture, pushing the hand of culture change. They can do that because these portraits are privately funded, the sneaky part is that they get the imprimatur of the White House and the presidency. Let me be clear:  you just don't chose this kind of avant garde artist for official portraiture unless its for the CEO of a young tech startup or a Hollywood mogul. But It doesn't take long once someone pushes the envelope like this into conservative taste land.. Wasn't so long ago that Picasso was widely ridiculed,. now he's Mr. Blockbuster, same for like Jackson Pollock