From Paris to Prague: France for Obama

While in Paris, we saw a poster for an Obama art show in a window of the Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore, an English-language bookstore a few doors down from our hotel. What? Local artists inspired to create art about Obama?

We made a mental note, but proceeded on. The next day, meeting one of Maeve's friends studying in Paris, talk turned to the US presidential election. Rachel said French people she met were fascinated and captivated by Obama. And...she described the art show she'd seen of work inspired by him. She had the address and she said it was worth the trip.

So we did. By Paris Metro (three transfers) we got out of the center of the city into a working-class neighborhood and found "dorothy's gallery." Sure enough, it was a small white storefront serving as an art gallery space. We went in, and met Dorothy.

She is an American living in Paris since 1970. She said the deaths of Kennedy and MLK drove her to find a new home. She arrived in Paris and looked around for what they needed. She had plenty of ideas but settled on teaching English to French. At the time the French government had just mandated that companies apply a percentage of profits to training employees. She formed a nonprofit association of educators and they began doing this. Many years later, she turned this into a for-profit, then sold it. Now, retired, she does what she loves, and what she loves is running an art gallery. She's doing it on a shoestring. She lives in the back. While we were there, a reporter from the French local paper Le Parisienne, came to interview her and take some photos of the artwork. The reporter also got a quote from Peter, since he comes from the same state that the Republican VP candidate comes from. The reporter is in the red coat with the notebook; Peter and Dorothy are also in the shot.

But to the Obama story. She got an idea and invited the artists she represents to do artwork related to Obama. She said living in Paris, she wanted to do something about this election, to help. Having a gallery gave her the idea for the show. The work is free to see, but she is selling it on hehalf of the artists. Pieces were several hundred dollars, As we were chatting, she noted that it was closing time for the gallery and she invited us to sit and have some wine. She put some delicious cheese out, and some grapes and olives and crackers, and opened a bottle of white burgundy.

Before we left we gave her a small donation in support of her art gallery. We had a fine time there. The artwork was mostly shallow. She explained that she'd only given the gallery artists 20 days to create something.

Her assistant said the French enthusiasm for Obama was shallow. She called Obama a fashion victim in France. She said that 80 percent of France is enthralled with Obama, yet 50 percent of them voted for Sarkozy, so they had to be hypocrites.

These two also told us that people in France were very worried about the economy and that people were losing their jobs, restaurants and shops were already suffering.

OK, on to some photos of the artwork.

This piece shows a poker game between Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain. Hillary is at the center, her husband Bill is whispering into her ear. Obama has a card under his arm, but McCain has a card in his pocket. Between Hillary and Obama sits Al Gore. The figure to the back of Bill Clinton, we were told, is Bush, fading away. Maeve had a different idea, that it is an image of Monica Lewinsky...because she has a hat on, and Maeve said Monica Lewinsky has become a hat maker. Anyway, that one is interesting, maybe even a little cynical, since everyone has something up their sleeve, so to speak.

I just had to slip this one in. It is the only image in the gallery related to Palin. Obviously copied from that shot of her in her office with a bear skin over the back of the couch. Only, here she is a cave woman.