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the end of men
December 10, 2012

This Artist Paints Boobs on Presidents’ Faces

By Lauren Bans

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Photo: Emily Deutchman

Picasso had his Blue Period; artist Emily Deutchman had her Boob Period. It began two years ago, when she found herself struggling with a case of “painter’s block.” The 24-year-old Skidmore graduate was living in New York, working at an art-focused talent agency, and unable to get anything on paper except doodles of women’s breasts. Those, for some reason, flowed freely and abundantly from hand to paper and a bunch of other surfaces. “I was doodling breasts on napkins, coffee coasters, on everything really, everywhere I went,” she recalls. At a bar one night, during this period of mammary preoccupation, Deutchman’s friend suggested she try to sketch a couple of their friends sitting across the table from them. She balked. “I remember saying, ‘No! I can’t! It won’t look like them, and I’ll be frustrated!’” she says. Then the friend suggested, “Well, just put boobs on their face.” That was an idea she could work with.

Six months later, Presidents with Boob Faces was born. “I decided to slap breasts on president’s faces for a number of reasons,” says Deutchman. “I wanted a series, but I also wanted a series to which people would inevitably attach meaning and intent.” Her full collection of tit-faced commanders-in-chief debuted this fall at the Living Gallery in Bushwick. Of course, the exhibit raised the inevitable question: What does it all mean?  Is it a commentary on the many silly boobs we’ve appointed to rule our great nation? Or a critical statement on the lack of women (and breasts) in our storied political history? She laughs at these questions. “I didn’t set out with an agenda.” Deutchman explains. “I enjoy the fact that the project lends itself to a lot of inquiry and discussion, but can also just be enjoyed on a purely humorous level. You don’t have to be educated or knowledgeable about the political system in order to like them. They’re boobs on a president’s face.” For a sampling of her work, plus an explanation on why she put certain boobs on specific facial features, click ahead to see the Cut’s slideshow.

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President George Washington "I went in order, so my first painting was George Washington. Before I started the project, I didn’t really know... President George Washington "I went in order, so my first painting was George Washington. Before I started the project, I didn’t really know anything about the presidents, and even through the project, I didn’t really bother to do much research. I learned their names, and I learned their order. But the placement of the breasts was really aesthetic. It was based on the structure of their face." Photo: Emily Deutchman
President John Adams  Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Thomas Jefferson  Photo: Emily Deutchman
President James Madison "I have a lot of favorites for different reasons. Some of them because I think they’re hilarious, and some of them b... President James Madison "I have a lot of favorites for different reasons. Some of them because I think they’re hilarious, and some of them because I think I painted them particularly well. One of my very favorites is Madison. He was the first boob eyes I did, and I was very happy with myself after that one." Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Abraham Lincoln  Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Ulysses S. Grant  Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Chester Arthur "There were some paintings I was able to whip out in several hours — five to seven hours, I’d say. Some I had to re... President Chester Arthur "There were some paintings I was able to whip out in several hours — five to seven hours, I’d say. Some I had to repaint several times. They’re all done in watercolor. You can’t really rework it; you have to start over and do it again. I redid a handful of them. This was the portrait I spent the most hours on overall. I redid him five times." Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Gerald Ford Gerald Ford has the largest nipple of them all, I’d say. "Toward the end, I started to ask my friends to send me pic... President Gerald Ford Gerald Ford has the largest nipple of them all, I’d say. "Toward the end, I started to ask my friends to send me pictures of their breasts on Facebook. And I got about seven or eight pairs of boobs. So his boob is actually based off a real pair of breasts." Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Ronald Reagan "A friend suggested I put the breasts in his chin-sag. I was really open when I was doing this project, and I had fr... President Ronald Reagan "A friend suggested I put the breasts in his chin-sag. I was really open when I was doing this project, and I had friends coming in and out when I was working, and everyone had an opinion about where to put breasts, of course. This one was my friend David’s idea, he said, ‘You know you really have to make Reagan’s waddle into breasts.’" Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Bill Clinton "Clinton and Calvin Coolidge both got boob noses. Coolidge’s is even smaller and more delicate. In all caricatures of... President Bill Clinton "Clinton and Calvin Coolidge both got boob noses. Coolidge’s is even smaller and more delicate. In all caricatures of Bill Clinton, the nose is the dominating feature. So I wanted to play with the caricature and make that the standout feature in my portrait as well."  So it has nothing to do with the fact that Clinton “has a nose for” people with breasts? "No! But I like that as a possible interpretation. I was aware of that interpretation, but I tried not to let those things govern the decision that I made. I tried to allow them to be incidental and not too determined." Photo: Emily Deutchman
President George W. Bush "My method normally is to draw the face first without boobs and then work the breasts into the portrait. Bush was t... President George W. Bush "My method normally is to draw the face first without boobs and then work the breasts into the portrait. Bush was the exception. I just couldn’t not make his whole head a boob. It was just too tempting." Photo: Emily Deutchman
President Barack Obama "For most of the paintings, I based the image on the given president’s official presidential portrait, but for Obama,... President Barack Obama "For most of the paintings, I based the image on the given president’s official presidential portrait, but for Obama, I knew I wanted to use his Hope poster likeness because it’s by far the most iconic image of him. So the style of the Obama portrait is really different from all the others for that reason."  Why are the breasts on his ears? "His ears are so goddamn big! I didn’t have to exaggerate the ears at all. They stick out like that. I literally just put nipples on them. I felt it was appropriate to highlight his strongest feature." Photo: Emily Deutchman
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  • political art
  • the end of men
  • presidents
  • gallery
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