In 2018 the artist Kehinde Wiley revealed his portrait of President Barack Obama that was to be hung in the “America’s Presidents” exhibition in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (NPG) alongside the 43 portraits of preceding presidents. The difference this time around was the depiction of the first black president created by the first black artist to be commissioned by the NPG. The portrait of Obama creates a disruption in the monotony of viewing 43 other portraits depicting the stereotypical aging, white men (see for yourself: https://americaspresidents.si.edu/gallery)  who have held the presidency. This disruption effectively arouses conversation and self-reflection upon the realities of representation within our so-called representative democracy. In addition, the act of representation in both the image and the creator within the context of a white institution is intensely democratic in the steps it takes to subvert accepted ideas of where power belongs, instead placing it in the hands of those it has historically oppressed.