Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung’s 2009 series In G.O.D. We Trust will be shown in its entirety for the first time. G.O.D., in this case, stands for Global Obama Devotion. The series comprises a video animation and a group of digital collages addressing the global and domestic challenges that faced the Obama administration early in his presidency.

In an attempt to heal the world, Obama The Savior reincarnates into various prophets, spiritual leaders and deities: Jesus Christ, Krishna, Abraham, Mohammad, the Yoruba Orisha God Elugua/Eshu, Buddha, and the Virgin of Guadalupe. The series remixes the theological pillars of the various belief systems, substituting key elements of the holy texts with references to the political and economical climate when Obama took office. Rather than idolizing Obama, In G.O.D. We Trust examines the hope and changes the 44th US president promised to deliver as well as the inevitable obstacles looming along the way. The frenetic speed of the video and psychedelic overload of the collages create an explosive spectacle that undermines relationships between political icons, mass media imagery, and the capitalist cathedrals where they dwell.

Where it once felt like shade thrown at the euphoria over Black Jesus, the open-eyed criticality of Tin-Kin’s work now steels our resistance as we stare into the gaping maw of the orange apocalypse.