UBERLEGEN, Jesse Owens
I tried to keep this piece quite clean and graphic to echo European posters of the time. The red, white and black colouring is obviously the echo of the NSDAP flag. It is metaphorically and in reality, the backdrop to the stage, on which Mr Owens performed so majestically. Replacing the swastika with the Olympics written sign, but retaining the black lettering, is to emphasise that fraudulent message against a white circle- representing the peace and harmony normally underpinning the modern games.
Finally, my signature line, is in this case - white. White because it not only refers to the finishing tape on a sprint track- but also to amplify the real symbolism of white, so-called supremacy and that the line he had to breach was that of twisted perception and prejudice.

UBERLEGEN translates as ‘superior’. It’s not too difficult to figure out who I see in that position.

RACE, Jesse Owens
The composition in this, like the previous piece, is based on the propaganda posters of the era. The addition of the laurel wreath is an echo, of the publicity material for the ‘36 Olympics- only the garland adorned the head of an Aryan. The red, black and white is an obvious acknowledgment of the infamous flag- however the addition of my signature line in blue- references the stars n stripes. So we have the connection of the two flags.

When Owens returned home to the States from the 1936 Olympics with four gold medals and international fame, he had difficulty finding work. He took on menial jobs as a gas station attendant, playground janitor, and manager of a dry cleaning firm. He also raced against amateurs and horses for cash. Segregation and sympathy for Hitler was very present. Asked by a reporter if he felt humiliated racing against horses- Jesse replied ‘you can’t eat 4 gold medals’. His triumph in Berlin, representing the USA, destroying the myth of Aryan superiority- only to return to his birthplace and get treated like an ‘Uncle Tom’.

I would have thrown my medals in the Hudson.