Sarah Palin has inspired editorials, blog posts, investigations and dispatches galore since her announcement as the Republican vice-presidential nominee four weeks ago. Now she’s the subject of a nude portrait, unveiled Thursday and drawing crowds to the Old Town Ale House [1] on Chicago’s North Side. (Uncensored painting can be seen here [2]. -Ed.)
The four-foot-tall oil painting depicts the current governor of Alaska standing atop a polar bear-skin rug in her living room, nude, except for a pair of red stiletto heels and her trademark eyeglasses. In the picture she leans on an automatic rifle while beaming a megawatt smile. Behind her, a window looks out onto a pristine Alaska landscape, complete with a moose that has just ambled into the frame.
The portrait fits right in at the ale house (Yelp reviews [3]), a dark and famously dingy bar frequented by Second City [4]performers and crew, whose walls are adorned with more than 200 paintings of bar regulars and well-known Chicagoans [5], often engaged in various sexual acts. The Palin portrait has quickly become the bar’s star attraction, drawing a steady stream of picture-snapping admirers. According to the hand behind this and the rest of the paintings, former golf hustler and bar co-owner Bruce Elliott [6], his latest piece is even pulling in regulars from rival establishments.
"It’s been very successful," Elliott said, "Generally what I do is sex, but I think I’m going to do a little more politics."
The idea for the painting came to him a week earlier when he noticed his daughter Grace, who works behind the bar, was performing an uncanny Sarah Palin impression.
"My daughter is a heck of a stand-in for Sarah Palin. She can even do the voice," he said.
Elliott employed his daughter as the model for Palin’s body and drew on photo references to depict her from the neck up. While many women might cringe at the idea of posing nude for their fathers, Grace proudly informs gawkers that they’re staring at her body up on the wall.
"He changed my diapers," she said with a shrug. "Think about it like that."
Elliott, who says he’s pulling for Barack Obama in the election, worked on the portrait for seven to eight hours a day for a week. While the piece qualifies as a quick grab for attention, it’s also very much the creation of someone immersed in the coverage of Palin, whom he refers to as “a real nasty piece of work” while also admitting feeling attracted to her.
The Smirk
"I wanted to get that smirk she does in the magazines and I just kind of drew it and drew it until it came together," he said. "That smirk says ‘I was the town whore in high school and look where I’ve gone.’"
The Shoes
"I think Maureen Dowd mentioned that she wore harlot red stiletto heels," he said. "I had to get those in."
The Rifle
"I wanted to draw the most awful-looking gun ever," she said. "She’s really into hunting. If I could give her a bazooka, I would."
The Moose
"The moose is there because it realizes she’s going to turn around and blow his brains out," he said.
The Rug
"The polar bear is there because she doesn’t believe in global warming and the polar bear will go extinct because of it," he said. "I thought it was a nice touch."
"I really don’t think too much about taste," Elliott says when asked about reaction to the work. "I’d like to offend somebody. I would love it if the secret service called me up.”
Elliott says the painting, like the rest in the ale house, is not for sale. And he says no amount of money could lure him into painting another version of it. The bar owner hopes someone turns the image into a college dorm room poster someday.
"I don’t see how she could be offended by this," he said. "I made her into a sex figure."
Though he hopes to paint more political figures, Elliott says he’s stumped as to who to do next. He’s mulling over the idea of a Bush family portrait.