By Antoine du Rocher
NEW YORK, 30 APRIL 2008 —While the planned U.S. Postal Service First-Class postage increase is the hot story of the moment in numismatics, and the "Forever Stamp" is the hot-selling item at the post office, the centerpiece of an art exhibition in New York promises to be a much stickier, and much more enduring, commemorative issue: the "George W. Bush Idiot King" stamp that paints the Commander in Chief as a first-class idiot.
The show, curated by Judy Pfaff of the CUE Art Foundation, gives center stage to the Houston-based artist, David Krueger (b. 1953), whose work mixes political commentary, technology and artistic experimentation to produce work that broadcasts a message of disappointment and political disillusionment through the humble postage stamp.
Krueger has issued numerous stamps over the last several years to comment on issues like gun violence, environmental damage, and the bias of Fox News, but the most buzz-worthy of his stamps must be the image of Bush as Idiot King.
David Krueger: Idiot King [detail], 2001
Sheet of perforated, laser printed stamps
8 ½" x 11"
Photo courtesy of CUE Art Foundation
Krueger created the Idiot King stamp in 2001, long before the folly of the Bush years would become evident and at the time, it may have seemed a cheap shot, but in retrospect, some would call it prescient. And, deliberately or not, timing the show to coincide with the price hike for the First-Class Mail stamp adds to the ironic resonance of Krueger's work.
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