![Hipstory](https://artreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rsz_world-leaders-as-hipsters_21-565x565.jpg)
Have you ever run into a former world leader at Coachella? Of course you haven’t, you just went a little heavy on the ‘shrooms. But what if you had?
In his “Hipstory” collection, Israeli illustrator Amit Shimoni re-envisions some of the most influential policymakers of the past as if they were millennials. It’s a queer feeling when something is doubly recognizable – the face of Abraham Lincoln in the garb of the guy reading Juxtapoz next to you at the coffeeshop – yet simultaneously incongruous.
There’s a playful cognitive dissonance at work in Shimoni’s art, but it also has a certain wryness that speaks to the cult of celebrity reigning in politics, where a state chief’s likeability and relatability now take precedence over their aptitude as a leader.
¡Viva la revolución – and pass me a Pabst!
![Hipstory](https://artreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rsz_world-leaders-as-hipsters_71-565x565.jpg)
![Hipster Margaret Thatcher by Amit Shimoni, Hipstory](https://artreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rsz_world-leaders-as-hipsters-by-amit-shimoni-hipstory-designboom-05.jpg)
![Hipster Nelson Mandela by Amit Shimoni, Hipstory](https://artreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rsz_world-leaders-as-hipsters-by-amit-shimoni-hipstory-designboom-09.jpg)
![Hipster Mao Zedong by Amit Shimoni, Hipstory](https://artreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rsz_world-leaders-as-hipsters-by-amit-shimoni-hipstory-designboom-07.jpg)
![Hipster Queen Elizabeth by Amit Shimoni, Hipstory](https://artreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/rsz_queen-elizabeth-1.jpg)
Want to take your hipster-dom to the next level? Click here to buy a “Hipstory” cavas tote to carry your “Hisptory” t-shirts and iPhone cases.