Art brings world leaders together

Kuala Lumpur, Apr 13: In an unlikely combination, Mahatma Gandhi and Osama bin Laden along with other leaders of the world, have been brought together into one frame by Malaysia's contemporary artist Ahmad Fuad Osman in an acrylic painting.

The piece entitled "To Whom It May Concern" features the spectral faces of the stark philosophical opposites, with others such as Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Albert Einstein, Benito Mussolini, Martin Luther King and Joseph Stalin, surrounded by a crowd who are video recording them.

Obama too is present in the frame appearing on the camera screens in the painting. Osman the 40-year-old artist and self-confessed Obama fan says, "Obama is the face of hope and the future. Even halfway around the world, here in Malaysia, Obama fever is contagious."

The heavy weights of the local art circle are renowned for their postmodern pieces depicting Malaysian culture intertwined with elements of war and economic recession.

The exhibition, which will tour the United States and Europe for the next three years, features 20 works by the five artists and are expected to sell for 15,000 dollars to 20,000 dollars.

ANI