You Killed Barack Obama, 2008

In the midst of the pre-election Obama-mania that spread well beyond the United States, a Polish street artist working under the pseudonym ‘Peter Fuss’ exhibited his controversial piece, ‘Who Killed Barack Obama?’ Part of the
summer 2008 ‘Out of Sth’ show of urban art in the Polish city of Wroclaw, Fuss’s canvas covered the front wall of the city’s gallery of contemporary art, BWA Awangarda, like a mourning shawl (see Figure 1). The piece evoked a whole range of emotions – from horror and disgust through to fascination and amusement – in city dwellers, visitors and international bloggers alike.