Shepard Fairey, “OBEY” Street Artist and Designer
This segment profiles Shepard Fairey, a contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, calls him one of today’s best known and most influential street artists.
He first became known for his “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign. His work became more widely known in 2008 for his Barack Obama “HOPE” poster. His work is included in the collections at The Smithsonian, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Fairey became obsessed with art in 1984 at the age of 14. At that time he started to place his drawings on skateboards and T-shirts. In 1992, Fairey graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Arts in illustration. In addition to his successful graphic design career, Fairey also DJ’s at many clubs.
Fairey sits on the advisory board of Reaching to Embrace the Arts, a not-for-profit organization that provides art supplies to disadvantaged schools and students. Fairey created the “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign in 1989, while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). This later evolved into the “Obey Giant” campaign, which has grown via an international network of collaborators replicating Fairey’s original designs. His “Obey” Campaign draws from the John Carpenter movie “They Live” which starred pro wrestler Roddy Piper, taking a number of its slogans, including the “Obey” slogan, as well as the “This is Your God” slogan. Fairey has also spun off the OBEY clothing line from the original sticker campaign.
After graduation, he founded a small printing business in Providence, RI called Alternate Graphics, specializing in t-shirt and sticker silkscreens, which afforded Fairey the ability to continue pursuing his own artwork. While residing in Providence in 1994, Fairey met American filmmaker Helen Stickler, who had also attended RISD and graduated with a film degree. The following spring, Stickler completed a short documentary film about Shepard and his work, titled “Andre the Giant has a Posse”. The film premiered in the 1995 New York Underground Film Festival, and went on to play at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. It has been seen in more than 70 festivals and museums internationally.
Fairey was a founding partner of the design studio BLK/MRKT Inc. which specialised in guerilla marketing. Clients included Pepsi, Hasbro and Netscape (for whom Fairey designed the red dinosaur version of mozilla.org’s logo and mascot). His OBEY Giant line of clothing was sold at the upscale Nordstrom department store. In 2003 he founded the Studio Number One design agency with his wife Amanda Fairey. The agency produced the cover work for the Black Eyed Peas’s album Monkey Business and the poster for the film Walk the Line. Fairey has also designed the covers for The Smashing Pumpkins’ album Zeitgeist, Flogging Molly’s CD/DVD Whiskey on a Sunday, and the Led Zeppelin compilation Mothership and Anthrax’s The Greater Of Two Evils.
In 2005 Fairey collaborated with DJ Shadow on a box set, with t-shirts, stickers, prints, and a mix CD by Shadow. In 2006, Fairey contributed eight vinyl etchings to a limited-edition series of 12″ singles by alternative rock band Mission of Burma, and has also done work for the musical group Interpol.
Fairey was arrested on February 7, 2009, on his way to the premiere of his show at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Massachusetts, on two outstanding warrants related to graffiti. He was charged with damage to property for having painted two Boston area locations with graffiti, a Boston Police Department spokesman said. Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy for President in 2008, including the iconic “HOPE” portrait.
Fairey created the portrait of Barack Obama that TIME Magazine used as the cover art for its 2008 Person of the Year issue. The portrait is also used for the cover of Esquire Magazine’s February 2009 issue. His influence, particularly with Obama’s presidential campaign, contributed to him being named a Person of the Year 2008 by GQ Magazine.
In January 2009, the ‘HOPE’ image was acquired by the US National Portrait Gallery, and became part of the permanent collection.
It was unveiled and put on display at the Gallery on January 17, 2009.
Duration : 0:8:6
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Tags: album, Andre, Anthrax's, art, artist, Barack, CD/DVD, clothing, designer, Evils., Fairey, Flogging, Former, Giant, graffiti, Greater, has, Hasbro, HOPE, image, Led, logo, mascot, Molly's, Mothership, mozillas, Netscape, Obama, OBEY, of, on, painter, Posse, Poster, Pumpkins, rock, Shepard, Skateboard, Smashing, streetart, Sunday, tag, the, Two, Vote, Whiskey, Zeitgeist, Zeppelin
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm and is filed under contemporary artists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
true genius of art
true genius of art
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
finally a graffitti …
finally a graffitti artist thats respected
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
he’s pretty humble
he’s pretty humble
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Rebel Rebel – David …
Rebel Rebel – David Bowie
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
what song is that …
what song is that at the end of the vid?
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Nothing innovative? …
Nothing innovative? I don’t know what video you’re watching, but we obviously aren’t watching the same one.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
andy warhol was …
andy warhol was inovative and this guy brings something new to the table, he blends many element s of culture and creates a visually interesting peice of art, also look up Banksy
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
seriously…..and …
seriously…..and nothing innovative???? YOU, you talentless idiot. how you can you say that after watching this. NEVER MIND! this guy lived the life a street artist posting obey for no cash just the simple fact of getting up, which half of you dumb and 35 old single males no jack about..
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
omg… satanic?
…
omg… satanic?
seriously… get a life. learn a little about the guy before you talk, please.
and yeah it’s similar to warhol, he’s one of his idols.
shepard fairey makes art with meaning, see the meaning and stop talking smack. :p
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
propz to OBEY…. …
propz to OBEY….keep it up
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
7:38 i want the …
7:38 i want the skateboards
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
SATANIC IMAGES!!!! …
SATANIC IMAGES!!!!
FUCK THIS ASSHOLE. He uses so much occultic sybolism that I KNOW there is more to this story that the news isn’t telling us.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
hater. this guy …
hater. this guy took illegal art and turned it into a bussiness while still staying legal and putting his art to work.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:00 pm
he’s ok…nothing …
he’s ok…nothing innovative or eye catch, much like what Andy Warhol did in the 80′s…..
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
i cant hear shit
i cant hear shit
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
i wrote ” how to …
i wrote ” how to draw andre the giant” and it linked to obey?..! do u think that andre ROUISSIOFF[the giant] is the guy from obey??????????????
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
yo ago street art y …
yo ago street art y lo puedo decir con orguyo… obey es una inspiracion muy grande
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
obey went to RISD !
obey went to RISD !
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Shepard Fairey is …
Shepard Fairey is my Anti-Hero!
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
I hope to achieve …
I hope to achieve the status that Fairey has with my art as well.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
never knew the face …
never knew the face was andre
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Something to do …
Something to do with starting a movement. I don’t know. We were putting them on our skateboards in 1993.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
what is it about
what is it about
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
ha i was in there …
ha i was in there when they fimled this oh suck on a nut
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Good for him. …
Good for him. Seriously. I remember when he started the whole Andre Campaign. It was like wtf is this Andre sticker about?