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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Seventy Two: Bringing the museum to life > Jellybean Mosaic, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Simi Valley, California, 2012
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14-AUG-2012

Jellybean Mosaic, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Simi Valley, California, 2012

The former president was know to savor Jellybeans, leading to this incongruous mosaic on display in the museum. I photographed it at an angle, instead of head-on. By doing this, I was able to change perspective, and make the portrait even more light hearted than the original. The most fascinating aspect of the mosaic is the detail – the placement of the jellybeans, their colors and orientation define the image of the former president in a way that no other portrait of him had ever done before. I had to bring my camera very close in order to make this detail “pop.” If I had backed up to show the additional jellybeans in the surrounding context, that detail would have never worked as effectively – and incongruously – as it does here.

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Phil Douglis15-Oct-2012 03:46
Thanks, Tim, for your enjoyable metaphor that pretty much sums up the larger meaning of this image. Indeed, the art of politics is often draped in false colors and facts, smiles and bloat. This picture lampoons the lampoon here.
Tim May13-Oct-2012 22:29
You, by now, know me - I see metaphor almost everywhere - A candy portrait of a politician - fake color, short lived sweetness, bloated body politic - it's all here.
Phil Douglis20-Sep-2012 00:33
Glad you see my humor here, Carol. The teeth and the distortion make the shot. While they may seem discomforting to some, they prove amusing to you and me. I am sure the person who created this work of jellybean art had a smile on his or her face as well.
Carol E Sandgren19-Sep-2012 22:50
I don't find this discomforting...bizarre yes, but not discomforting. Instead I think this is really amusing. I love the teeth! What'll they think up next for building portraits??
Phil Douglis02-Sep-2012 23:48
I can see how you may find this image discomforting. By getting so close at such an emphatic angle, I reveal the mechanics behind the mural. The mouth, for example, consists of irregularly placed jellybeans pretending to represent lips and teeth. When normal human lips and teeth are replaced by these strangely located and oddly colored jellybeans, and then stressed by my tight vantage point, the effect certainly becomes bizarre, as you note. And that was my intention. I am spoofing the spoof here, by turning one incongruity into another. Some may cringe, and others may laugh at the Presidential sweet-tooth here. (I come away from it with a smile as broad as his, due no doubt to my own twisted sense of humor!)
Iris Maybloom (irislm)02-Sep-2012 00:24
Although I'm a great fan of jelly beans, I find this portrait very discomforting. The angle and the close proximity at which you photographed it exacerbate the discomfort. I find this very bizarre!
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