Thread: Obama 'Hope' image inspires Arpaio protest art

There is an image of the art at the source link. Could have posted it here myself but don't want to.
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Obama 'Hope' image inspires Arpaio protest art

by Richard Ruelas - Jan. 14, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A protest of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has ventured into the world of art.

And if the work - an image of a man with his fist in the air - resembles the iconic "Hope" image of President Barack Obama, there is a good reason. It was created by an apprentice to Shepard Fairey, the man behind the iconic Obama artwork.

Fairey, who created the blue- and red-colored portrait of Obama that was ubiquitous during the 2008 presidential campaign, has collaborated on a series of images advocating for immigration reform
.

The third in the series, done by Fairey's understudy Ernesto Yerena, features a Phoenix protestor. The words below read: "Stop Arpaio now!!!"

The image will be on 100 T-shirts handed out to protestors during this Saturday's march in protest of Arpaio's immigration actions.

Yerena, speaking by phone from his Los Angeles-area home, said the photo of an emotional Orlando Arenas made for a signature image.

"I wanted someone to truly represent the spirit of the activist in Arizona currently," Yerena said. "He's kind of fierce. He's got his fist in the air. You can tell he's angry."

Yerena has also created a stylized portrait that features Arpaio. But he's not circulating it because he's not sure how to secure permission to use the photo.

Fairey, whom Yerena has worked with since 2006, got into legal issues when the Associated Press said that his Obama poster was based on one of its photos. The news agency sued.

Yerena has secured permission for the photo of Arenas, which was taken during an anti-Arpaio rally in north Phoenix.

Arenas gave permission to turn his image into pop art, although he wasn't sure whether he was ready to be the face of a movement.

"At first it seemed like a blessing," the 28-year-old said. "Now, I'm starting to realize Ernesto set me up for some responsibility."

Arenas became involved with the day-labor movement while he was a nighttime custodian at The Republic. He would read articles about Arpaio's actions on his breaks and became incensed.

Arenas works with Tonatierra, an immigrant-rights group, as an organizer of day laborers. He has staged a daily protest outside the high-rise building in downtown Phoenix that houses Arpaio's offices. Arenas was cited for trespassing after being ordered to leave county property in February. A justice of the peace dismissed the charges. Prosecutors are appealing that decision.

A spokesperson for Arpaio said the office had not seen the artwork and offered no comment.

The Arenas image is the third in a series of immigration-related works and the only one that mentions Arpaio by name. The other two feature an older-man protestor and a shot of a little girl holding flowers. Both images include the words "Stop the raids," referring to workplace-enforcement actions.

Those two also were a collaboration between Fairey and Yerena.

Yerena said the two talked about using a family for the immigration-reform image. But he returned from a protest march in Los Angeles with a picture of a little girl standing on a sidewalk. Fairey said that was the image to use.

"He said (that) she was really cute and she was so tender," he said. "How are you going to hate on that one? On that little girl?"

It also belied the traditional image of illegal immigrants.

"People think of day laborers at Home Depot or immigrants that are older," Yerena said. "They don't think about the women and children."

The posters are created through a complicated color-separation process called Rubylith that involves manually trimming out sections of the photo and layering them.

Yerena at times alters the images. He added an Aztec symbol to Arenas' T-shirt and replaced the little girl's plastic cup with a bouquet of flowers. He also removed the Mexican flag, which she was holding upside down, leaving her with a fist.

Yerena said he and Fairey learned of Arpaio's actions through Zach de la Rocha, the singer and songwriter of Rage Against the Machine. De la Rocha has been to anti-Arpaio rallies in Phoenix.

Yerena admits he doesn't have the answers for immigration reform.

"It's a complex question," he said. He recognizes that there is a hard-core criminal element among those crossing the border, but does feel that laws can be enforced while preserving human dignity.

"With Arpaio, it is OK to treat immigrants this way, to try to discriminate and treat them bad because they don't see them as having the same value," Yerena said. "They don't think they are human."

www.azcentral.com

"I wanted someone to truly represent the spirit of the activist in Arizona currently," Yerena said. "He's kind of fierce. He's got his fist in the air. You can tell he's angry."



And I want someone to truly represent the spirit of the average Arizonan........we're REALLY angry and are holding something in the air too. Just not our fist.

Originally Posted by azwreath

"I wanted someone to truly represent the spirit of the activist in Arizona currently," Yerena said. "He's kind of fierce. He's got his fist in the air. You can tell he's angry."



And I want someone to truly represent the spirit of the average Arizonan........we're REALLY angry and are holding something in the air too. Just not our fist.

"With Arpaio, it is OK to treat immigrants this way, to try to discriminate and treat them bad because they don't see them as having the same value," Yerena said. "They don't think they are human."

Firstly, we aren't talking about immigrants, they are illegal aliens.
Second, if this were any other country or even another century, illegal invaders and law breakers wouldn't receive the kid glove treatment or a slap on the wrist. It would be much worse!

Yerena at times alters the images. He added an Aztec symbol to Arenas' T-shirt and replaced the little girl's plastic cup with a bouquet of flowers. He also removed the Mexican flag, which she was holding upside down, leaving her with a fist.

She should be holding that flag in mexico. What a joke!

They still don't get it do they? Arpaio is doing the job that the voters of AZ want him to do. The point is deporting illegal aliens.

Yerena at times alters the images. He added an Aztec symbol to Arenas' T-shirt and replaced the little girl's plastic cup with a bouquet of flowers. He also removed the Mexican flag, which she was holding upside down, leaving her with a fist.

Take your mexican flag and get the hell out of this country!

It also belied the traditional image of illegal immigrants.

"People think of day laborers at Home Depot or immigrants that are older," Yerena said. "They don't think about the women and children."

I think about these baby factories and their anchor spawn all the time. How could I not! I live in California ,where I get treated to the sight of these invaders on a daily basis!