The good news for embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in this report is that a Chicago artist is using the governor’s likeness as inspiration for his latest painting. The bad news: “Hot Rod” is depicted handcuffed, behind bars, and in the altogether — and the painting is called “The Cavity Search.”


Chicago Tribune:

A nude portrait of the governor, by artist Bruce Elliott, is nearly complete and will hang on the wall of Elliott’s wife’s bar, the Old Town Ale House, next to his infamous depiction of a naked Sarah Palin. It is the next installment in what Elliott loosely calls his “nude governor series.”

Elliott cites many sources of inspiration for the painting, which shows the governor, who was arrested last week on corruption charges, preparing for a potential first day of incarceration. Among them: the extent of the governor’s alleged misdeeds and the artist’s desire to respond to criticism from Republicans and women about the Palin portrait by painting a Democrat in the buff.

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