Obama Cowboy

2012-2017

Obama Cowboy established appropriation as a central method in Knowledge Bennett’s practice. Beginning with Warhol’s 1963 Elvis (Cowboy), Bennett replaces Elvis Presley with Barack Obama, transforming an iconic Pop image into an inquiry into leadership, celebrity, and American mythology.

The source image comes from Flaming Star, in which Presley’s character confronts questions of mixed heritage, belonging, and loyalty. Bennett activates these tensions within the public image of Obama’s presidency, asking who can occupy America’s enduring symbols of authority.

Executed in acrylic and silkscreen on canvas, the series developed through eight iterations corresponding to the eight years of Obama’s presidency. An additional figure enters each successive composition, turning repetition into a visual chronology of tenure, endurance, and legacy. The gunslinger’s stance becomes a charged site for reconsidering representation and national identity.