George Bush, by misteraitch on Aug 30, 2007 14:48:01 GMT 1,
[The Bush porn portrait, pixelated to obscure certain areas of Mr Bush's face that may have offended]

When a British artist was denied US backing to paint a portrait of President George Bush he decided to make an 'alternative' version - from images of porn.

Now Jonathan Yeo, 36, has caued a stir in the US, where Republicans have attacked the work for being in poor taste.

A Republican spokesman said: "This picture is very distasteful. Why would anyone want to make a picture of our President from pornographic material?"

But Jonathan, son of former Tory backbencher Tim Yeo, told Metro: "I did it for fun. I was mildly irritated after the commission was cancelled and just went with this idea which initially I thought would not end up in a gallery."

"I suppose it was a bit of amusement for myself, poking fun at this unpopular man and for the majority of those who have seen it it has struck a chord. Essentially it makes people smile and it's an interesting new medium for me."

Describing how he went about getting the raw materials for the portrait Jonathan said: "It was more complicated than I thought.

"To get the right skin tones for a man in his 50s the healthy, tanned and airbrushed bodies of the majority of top-shelf magazines were no good.

"I found more niche publications like Readers' Wives and naturist magazines captured the cooler tones required.

"And for the hair I eventually tracked down some German magazines that don't necessarily follow the Hollywood wax route."

Although it hasn't gone down too well with some sections of America, Jonathan's work has caught the attention of the art fraternity this side of the Pond.

It has been unveiled at the Lazarides Gallery in London's Soho and is set to be a star attraction.

www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=63819&in_page_id=34

[The Bush porn portrait, pixelated to obscure certain areas of Mr Bush's face that may have offended]

When a British artist was denied US backing to paint a portrait of President George Bush he decided to make an 'alternative' version - from images of porn.

Now Jonathan Yeo, 36, has caued a stir in the US, where Republicans have attacked the work for being in poor taste.

A Republican spokesman said: "This picture is very distasteful. Why would anyone want to make a picture of our President from pornographic material?"

But Jonathan, son of former Tory backbencher Tim Yeo, told Metro: "I did it for fun. I was mildly irritated after the commission was cancelled and just went with this idea which initially I thought would not end up in a gallery."

"I suppose it was a bit of amusement for myself, poking fun at this unpopular man and for the majority of those who have seen it it has struck a chord. Essentially it makes people smile and it's an interesting new medium for me."

Describing how he went about getting the raw materials for the portrait Jonathan said: "It was more complicated than I thought.

"To get the right skin tones for a man in his 50s the healthy, tanned and airbrushed bodies of the majority of top-shelf magazines were no good.

"I found more niche publications like Readers' Wives and naturist magazines captured the cooler tones required.

"And for the hair I eventually tracked down some German magazines that don't necessarily follow the Hollywood wax route."

Although it hasn't gone down too well with some sections of America, Jonathan's work has caught the attention of the art fraternity this side of the Pond.

It has been unveiled at the Lazarides Gallery in London's Soho and is set to be a star attraction.

www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=63819&in_page_id=34