Putting a Face on the Financial Meltdown

We didn’t think former CEO Dick Fuld would ever show his face in front of the Lehman Brothers building ever again, but there he was. He didn’t get pelted with tomatoes, but people did get to air their feelings.

CNBC reports that artist Geoffrey Raymond has been painting some of the market meltdown’s most prominent players, including Fuld, and then bringing the finished product to key locations involved in some way in last year's economic crash. Members of the public, including former employees, are then invited to to vent their feelings in a way that adds to the art, such as scribbling messages on its periphery.

Other renderings include Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein, and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Some of the depictions, like that of an open-mouthed, mid-tirade Paulson, are less than flattering, but not all are intended to be. Though current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s head is painted entirely red, it isn’t necessarily meant to project evil. Raymond told CNBC, “The red adds a demonic note but I, personally, think Geithner is doing an OK job.”

Click here to check out some Raymond's work.

Photo courtesy World Economic Forum, via Flickr.