Shepard Fairey

1. Shepard Fairey

2. Background

Shepard Fairey is considered to be the artist who started
street art awareness which has gone to an extreme in
popularity and exposure in our world.
He has been making art for 20 years, and over time has
become a well renowned artist, although he originally
thought of himself a regular guy making t-shirts and
posters. His older and newer work is remarkable.
He has had many sold out solo exhibitions and many
famous people have purchased his often large scale
pieces. Fairey originally discovered his passion for art
though skateboarding and punk rock and this really does
radiate in his artistic style.

3. Early Work

He did the well known Andre the Giant stickers when he
was teaching a friend to make stencils and came across
it in a newspaper.
People responded to this image right away and began
interpreting its meaning in many different ways that
fascinated him. It is estimated over a million of these
Andre the Giant stickers circulated.
This was the start to his amazing style which he
explained best when he said “I really believe the passion
of the application translates to the viewer.” He is now a
regularly recognized part of pop culture - for example his
work has even been in The Family Guy television show.

4.

5. OBEY

6. The Streets

Fairey has been arrested 15 times for the risks
involved with street art. He is notoriously known
for the lengths he went to get his art up, and is
famed because of the sheer amount he was able
to get up.
Some of his first commercial jobs employed his
graphic skills on a political level. A recent work
he did on the Smashing Pumpkins album cover
is an image of a submerged Statue of Liberty
referencing both global warming and the
diminished value of Americans.

7.

8.

9. His Work

10. Cont.

11. Peace Mujer – Stencil collage on canvas 30’ x 43

12. War By Numbers – Mixed media on wood 16 x 11 2007

13. Chinese Soldiers – Stencil collage on paper 30’ x 44’ 2007

14. Peace Goddess – Stencil collage on canvas 30’ x 43’ 2007

15. Toxic Dept. – Mixed media on wood 16’ x 11’ 6” 2007

16. Muhammad Ali – Stencil collage on canvas 42’ x 30’ 2007

17.

18.

19. HOPE

Shepard Fairey created the iconic Barack Obama
“HOPE” image in the 2008 presidential election.
He commented that this image was different
because most of his political pieces were done in
a negative way, and this one was positive.
He said that he chose the image because he felt
is portrayed leadership and wisdom and he liked
the angle of his face. He had the initial idea to
divide his face with shadows and red, white, and
blue.

20.

21. HOPE cont.

The Associated Press is alleging a copyright
infringement for this image of Obama stating
that it is protected under fair use provisions. A
lot of things will be considered in this case
especially since the original image is a news
image which would lack the creative elements of
photography.
The AP is seeking payment for using the image
without permission, but his attorneys say his
work is protected under “Fair Use”. He filed a
preemptive lawsuit stating as much.

22. Fairey’s Point of View

23. Current Lawsuit Cont.

The photographer Mannie Garcia claims he is a free
lance photographer so he has his own issues with the AP
because he feels his work was taken without permission.
The AP is stating he was under their employment when
the photo was taken. Fairey attributed his work to this
photo, and did not research it in order to realize that he
would need to give Mannie Garcia credit.
Fairey states that he does respect Garcia and feels that
he does deserve credit. All of the legal proceedings
surrounding this case are still under way.

24. Conclusion

To say the least Shepard Fairey is an
extraordinary well renowned street artist
with dynamic style that is very effective in
his mission to raise awareness. The wide
array of his pieces evoke strong emotions
visually, and are very interesting. It is
apparent he is not willing to stray from his
distinctive artistic style and expression.