CUT ON THE DOTTED LINE
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SHEPARD FAIREY “When something is illegally placed in the public right of way, the very act itself makes it political�
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Work fueled by critiques and counter arguments, Shepard Fairey (born 1970) gives his work to the streets to consume.
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2 Shepard Fairey is an American artist, graphic designer, DJ, and activist. He put his name on the map in 1989 with his Andre the Giant Has a Posse street art, while he was a student at RISD. The sticker and graffiti campaign, which came to be known as OBEY, first grew out of the skateboarding scene. It was what Fairey called an experiment in phenomenology and ultimately turned into an international icon. Fairey made various iterations of the Andre the Giant face in the ‘90s. Putting up stickers, posters and spray-painted stenciled images of the Andre face around cities ans places he visited.
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He estimated the number of stickers he’s made is in the millions. In 1994, he saw one of his stickers on the MTV show 120 Minutes plastered on a music equipment crate during a segment with the Beastie Boys. After he wheatpasted Andre the Giant’s face atop of Buddy Cianci’s on a Campaign billboard in Downtown Providence as an installation piece for a class he realized the impact that it could of had on the election. Once Fairey understood the power his work could have he began to create with more intent.
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Fairey chooses his subjects based on their positive or negative contributions. Using a Russian Constructivist style to simplify and reduce images to what is most compelling and essential Fairey referred to it as “the essence of the person.” Fairey’s work focuses primarily on political and social figures as well as environmental causes and civil rights movements. “When I started to see reactions and consider the sociological forces at work surrounding the use of public space and the insertion of a very eye catching but ambiguous image, I began to think there was the potential to create a phenomenon.” Fairey approached his early work with a punk mentality that if his work pissed anyone off, they were the people who deserved to be offended because they were the ones pissing him off with their authoritarian principles. Fairey uses his medium to question authority, becoming more direct and overtly political he is able to create a discourse during a time of crisis for “there is no time to be wasted allowing people to have epiphanies about authority, conspicuous consumption, and the control of public space at the rate that best suits them.”
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Recently Fairey has shifted away from focusing as much on personalities. Not that he doesn’t occasionally indulge in a portrait celebrating or condemning someone, but generally speaking he feels our culture is too focused on celebrity and the superficial. A large number of his portraits have been celebrations of figures who inspired him through their creations, actions, and philosophies. “ In terms of achieving what I’d like to achieve with my art which is to encourage someone to think about an issue in a way they may not have finding evocative imagery and symbols that can translate complex ideas in relatable ways is far more challenging than making portraits. At the same time, there may be no more effective means of impacting things socially, politically, and conceptually than portraits that potentially appeal in a more shallow way. Don’t get me wrong; I love the superficial as much as the next person, but I also like to weave in substance.”
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“I think political art is great all the time, but of course during an election cycle politics are more of a focus for most people. The great thing about art, in general, is that it can break through pre-dispositions by impacting people emotionally; then their intellectual side wants to justify their emotional response. Understanding that about art, I feel that it’s important to use art as a tool of persuasion responsibly. Advertising uses the same techniques, not always for things that I think are good for people. If art can crystalize a complex idea in a relatable way, it can create important conversations. Many people feel like spectators in our democracy because they don’t feel qualified to weigh in and they don’t think their vote counts for much anyway. Images that can generate a conversation empower people to feel confident about their right to voice their opinion, which leads to a more meaningful understanding of how they can participate in Democracy and empower themselves.”
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1 Photo by Ben Woodward, 1996 2 Newspaper Clipping, 1990 3 First Obey Poster, 1995 (24x 36”) Screen Print on paper 4 Original Andre work (front an back) June, 1989 Xerox, Ballpoint and Lamination 5 Obey 3 Face Series 1 2 3, 1996 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper 6 Hello My Name is Andre the Giant, 1995 (11x17”) Two-Color Xerox 7 Obey Icon, 1996 (25 x 38”) Lithograph 8 Text by: Shepard Fairey 9 Rise Above Cop, 2007 (29 x 42”) Screen Print and Collage on paper
10 Obey Greetings from Iraq, 2005 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper 11 DEMAGOGUE, 2016 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper Edition of 500 12 PAY UP OR SHUT UP, 2015 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper Edition of 450 13 Obey Bush One Hell of a Leader, 2004 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper 14 Damaged Times, 2017 (18x 24”) Screen Print on paper Edition of 450 15 End Corruption, 2016 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper Edition of 450
16 Target Expectations, 2017 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper Edition of 450 17 Earth Crisis Drop, 2016 (18 x 24”) Screen Print on paper Edition of 450 18 Late Hour Riot (18 x 24”) Screen Print Edition of 450 19 Angela Davis (30 x 42”) Screen Print Edition of 50 20 Guns and Roses Offset (24 x 26”) Offest Lithograph Edition of 750 21 We the People, 2017 22 Obama Hope, 2008
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1. Use only flat spray paint. 2. Do not let wet paint dry up on the stencil. 3. Chill, let paint dry before each application. 4. The stencils are reversible, keep rotating sides from which you are spraying front/back. 5. The stencils should be held flat to the surface to be painted with a light mist of spray adhesive 6. Failure to obey local ordinances may result in prosecution (the powers that be do not approve of you subverting the dominant paradigm). Spray at your own risk!
Designed and Written by Kiana Thayer Composed in Futura, typeface design by Paul Renner in 1927 Printed with Kyocera TASKalfa 3252ci onto Hammermill 80# text. Fairey, Shepard, and Dustin Amery Hostetler, Shepard Fairey, Dustin Amery Hostetler, 2002 Fairey, Shepard, et al. Obey: Supply & Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey. Rizzoli International Publications, 2018. Copyright Š 2018 Kiana Thayer