Death NYC Barack Obama Toy Soldiers Hands Up Political Pop Art Print 2020

DEATH NYC

Barack Obama × Toy Soldiers — "Hands Up"

Hand-Signed, Hand-Numbered Limited Edition Political Pop Art Print — 2020

What You Are Getting

An authentic, hand-signed Death NYC limited edition political pop art print depicting former US President Barack Obama seated on a stool with both hands raised, while a row of green plastic toy soldiers — rifles drawn, bayonets fixed — take aim from the opposite side of the composition. The minimal black-and-green-on-cream palette amplifies the visual tension. Dated 2020 and bearing an embossed Death NYC certification seal in the lower-left margin — a stamped authentication mark Death NYC began applying to a subset of editions to harden against forgeries. Pencil-signed and hand-numbered.

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Print Details

Artist Death NYC (anonymous, NYC-based) Title Barack Obama × Toy Soldiers — "Hands Up" Year 2020 Edition Limited edition, hand-numbered Signature Pencil-signed lower right; pencil-dated lower center Authentication Embossed Death NYC certification seal in lower-left margin Medium Giclée / screenprint on heavyweight textured fine art paper Size Approximately 17" × 11.5" (landscape, standard Death NYC format) Condition Excellent — stored flat in archival sleeve, never displayed unframed

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About the Work

A starkly political composition from a year that reset the visual vocabulary of American protest. The image juxtaposes a high-contrast cutout of Barack Obama — 44th President of the United States, in office 2009 to 2017 — seated and unarmed with his hands above his head, against a rank of green army-men toy soldiers in firing position. The "hands up" gesture references the protest language that emerged from Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 and reverberated through the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

Dating the work to 2020 anchors it firmly in that moment — a year of compounding political pressure during the lead-up to the US presidential election and the global response to the killing of George Floyd. Death NYC's choice to render the soldiers as plastic toys is the move that makes the piece work: it flattens militarized force into childhood play, asking which version is real and which is the rehearsal. A serious, archive-grade political print from a normally pop-driven artist.

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About the Artist

Death NYC is an anonymous New York-based street and pop artist who has been releasing limited edition signed prints since the early 2010s. While best known for high-density mashups of fine art, anime, streetwear, and luxury logos, Death NYC has also produced a smaller body of overtly political and historical work — of which this 2020 Obama piece is a strong example.

Death NYC editions are pencil-signed, hand-numbered, and on select releases bear an embossed certification seal in the margin. The work has been collected and resold across major secondary markets including Heritage Auctions, Artsy, and 1stDibs. The political prints in particular tend to age well — context-rich, period-specific, and visually direct.

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What Is Included

• One (1) authentic hand-signed Death NYC limited edition print
• Pencil signature, edition number, and 2020 date annotation
• Embossed Death NYC certification seal in lower-left margin
• Shipped flat in archival sleeve between two rigid backing boards
• Frame shown in photos is for display only and is not included

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Shipping

Ships via UPS within 1–2 business days of cleared payment. Print is sandwiched between rigid backing boards inside a custom-fit, water-resistant flat mailer. Fully insured and tracked. International buyers welcome — please message before purchase for a quote.

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