Debate: What does the Obama portrait say about us?

People gasped when Barack Obama unveiled his official portrait at the Smithsonian. It was not like the presidential portraits we've seen before – the first created by an African American artist, with a wild background and a backstory that threw some into a tizzy.

It's the stuff of great debate and even greater internet memes. 

What does the painting – and the reaction to it – say about our country? Opinion columnists for The Arizona Republic weigh in. 

There's a resiliency in that painting

LINDA VALDEZ: Unexpected. Classy. Thought provoking. The Obama portraits are as all-American as his presidency. Like America, those portraits are about daring to look at things in a new way. Obama's presidency reflected America’s collective courage to move beyond the old, limiting stereotypes. He gave us substance and he gave us style.

Sure. We’ve done some serious backsliding since then. Heaven knows. But there’s no denying America took audacious steps forward with Barack and Michelle Obama. And there’s no denying these paintings reflect the pride, creativity and resiliency of a president and First Lady who got dragged through the mud but never got dirty.

It stretches the boundaries of identity

ABE KWOK: I love that the portrait and its artist, Kehinde Wiley, have generated so much buzz.

The backstory of Wiley's "street-casting" – selecting attractive people of color to pose for his reimagining of (mostly) European masterpieces – fascinates. As does his aim: to explore, as he once told a Seattle Times reporter, "how black identity is constructed, consumed and manufactured."

Yeah, there's a good deal of distortion and outright lies swirling about Wiley and his work. Google his name and "beheadings" or "sperm," for instance. But for artists, is there such a beast as bad publicity?

And ultimately, paintings are like books. They are an intimate, personal experience. So put aside the ballyhoo, and let's spend time with the portrait on our own. However we view it is valid.

What our reaction says about the art

PHIL BOAS: I'm less interested in what the Obama art tells us about ourselves than what our reaction tells us about the art.

The popular favorite (and mine) is overwhelmingly the president's portrait with its vivid browns and greens. What catches the eye are elegant, supple hands every bit as expressive as Obama's face.

Michelle's portrait in grayscale, desaturated of much of its color, has been savaged on social media – "Hideous"... "boring"... "ugh!"  Which, of course, means 100 years from now, the Michelle portrait will hold its mystery while the husband's hangs in the shadows, a forgotten, yet functional, lint trap.

Can't anyone just say 'nice painting?'

JOANNA ALLHANDS: I'll be honest. I was among the five gazillion idiots on the internet who took one look at the portrait and thought "he looks like Homer Simpson disappearing into a hedge." This is what internet memes have done to us, people.

And, for the record, I like the painting, especially how it breaks all those rules we seem to have about the portraits of former presidents. Who says they all have to be in some stuffy setting and look like they have indigestion?

But, as with everything involving the Obamas, people inevitably made this about race and proclaimed it a waste of money (the paintings and unveiling cost about $500,000, in case you're wondering, and director Steven Spielberg was among the major donors).

That's what drives me nuts. In this hyper-angry, hyper-partisan age, you can't just say, "Nice Obama painting" and leave it at that.

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