Contemporary Arts Center Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand February 20-August 22, 2010 Interested in using contemporary art to help you teach other subjects? The Contemporary Arts Center makes it easy for parents, teachers, and other education professionals to do just that. These classroom presentations use the CAC's exhibitions as a teaching platform for broader subjects such as social studies, history, science and more.

1. “Obey Pole,” 2002
SHEPARD FAIREY
PowerPoint by Kara Swami

2. Within the last twenty years, Shepard
Fairey has become one of the most
influential street artists of our time. Born
in Charleston, South Carolina, his initial
interests include skateboarding, punk
rock, and drawing. It was in tenth grade
when Fairey produced self-made punk
rock t-shirts that started his ongoing
relationship with the silk-screen
technique. He pursued his interest in art
at the Rhode Island School of Design
where he launched his “Obey Giant”
street campaign that attracted popular
urban attention.

3. Fairey’s work combines silk-screening and
graphic techniques producing stickers,
clothing, skateboards, posters, stencil-
based graffiti, and film. By reproducing his
original images, Fairey is able to circulate
and communicate his ideas to the mass
public. He reutilizes a propagandistic
approach, influenced by counter-cultural
revolutionaries, the urban street art scene,
rap and punk rock musicians, often visible
in his conservative use of color and
stenciled images.
Loaded with political insinuations, Fairey’s
practices obscure the line between fine
and commercial art, asking his audience to
question the effects of the media and their
societal surroundings. The artist currently
lives and works in Los Angeles where he
also manages his founded design firm,
Studio Number One.

4. Shepard Fairey, “OG Sticker,” 1989
As a street artist by nature, Shepard Fairey’s graphic designs use familiar imagery and
icons that readily communicate to the masses. Fairey unintentionally stumbled upon a
picture of Andre the Giant while flipping through a newspaper and spontaneously
decided to use the icon as an ironic symbol for his skateboarding posse. After
recontextualizing the image by stenciling and adding text to the original copy, Fairey
reproduced his logo into hand-sized stickers and thereby circulated his creation within
the urban circle.

5. Shepard Fairey, “Guns and Roses,” 2007
Although Fairey’s work has been
around for over twenty years, he has
loitered under the radar and avoided
institutional recognition prior to his
posters for the Obama campaign. He
has been commissioned to design
several album covers and posters for
musicians such as Led Zeppelin, Black
Sabbath, Queens of the Stone Age, the
Smashing Pumpkins, the Black-Eyed
Peas, and Guns and Roses, to name a
few. Unlike many other historically
renowned art masters, Fairey employs
what he calls a “populist agenda,”
utilizing consumer products and urban
display as his canvases. He views his
art as “bureaucracy free,” that reuses
recognizable symbols and motifs. By
creating album covers and reproducing
posters and stickers, Fairey avoids
elitism and reaches the common
pedestrian.

6. Shepard Fairey, “Black Sabbath Poster,” 2005

7. Shepard Fairey, “Queens of the Stone Age Concert
Poster,” 2005

8. Fairey’s initial practices in street art and graffiti reflect his advocacy for
noncommissioned public displays that inevitably develop immediate relationships
with pedestrians. unsolicited forms of expression fundamental priorities concern
underground personal expression, demonstrated through street art and graffiti
practices, that advocate
From the beginning, Fairey practiced street art and graffiti, reflecting his fundamental
interests in noncommissioned public expression that creates an immediate relationship
with the urban society. Many of his murals are plastered on urban walls in cities such as
New York City and Los Angeles.
Shepard Fairey, “Toxic Inspector,” in West Village, New York City, 2008

9. “True graffiti to me, is just putting work you want out on
the street for everyone to see without compromise. No
government censorship, no gallery owner to reject you.
It’s about a pure uncompromised manifestation of your
art and ideas whether people like it or not.”
-Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey, “Asian Girl,” on Chrystie Street, New York City, 2009

10. Shepard Fairey street art, “Duality of
Humanity,” Washington, D.C., 2009
“It’s important to do things for
people who don’t necessarily
see the value of an elitist art
world endeavor. I make art to
communicate with as many
people as possible, and the
more universal I can make it,
the better.”
-Shepard Fairey, “Shepard Fairey,
Citizen Artist,” in Progressive
Magazine, by Antonino D’Ambrosio

11. Shepard Fairey, “Obey Icon,” 1995
In subsequent years, after his initial
“Andre the Giant” campaign, Fairey
reworked his icon by reducing the original
slogan to “Obey Giant” and referencing
Russian constructivist style. His concise
reconfiguration proved more recognizable
and efficient for public circulation, thereby
exemplifying what he calls “absurdist
propaganda.”
The icon’s increased recognition
demonstrated the shifting value and social
life that every image develops in relation
to its public surroundings. Consequently,
the artist adopted the word “Obey” as his
personal brand, tagging the slogan onto
many future works.
Fairey explains that in a society
“motivated by symbols,” his mass-
produced Obey Icons signify the “power
of propaganda” over the interactive public.
-Shepard Fairey, “Art and Culture,” written by Carlo
McCormik in Juxtapoz Magazine, 1998

12. Shepard Fairey, “Make Art, Not War,” print, 2004
Much of Fairey’s work is inherently
political, commenting on both the
national and international social state.
His work is very confrontational,
sometimes directly stating his message
and other times satirizing contemporary
society and politics. By reusing his
coined symbols and motifs, such as the
“Obey Icon,” Fairey continues to address
the inevitable influence of propaganda,
while quoting his work’s past effect on
consumer culture.

13. Shepard Fairey, “War by Numbers,” stencil
collage on paper, 2007

14. Shepard Fairey, “All City Propaganda,” print, 2006
“You can call Warhol a graphic-art style
with some painterly flourishes—you could
say the same about my fine art style.”
-Shepard Fairey, in “Shepard the Giant,” by Stephen
Heller, in The New York Times
Not only does Fairey’s style recall Andy
Warhol’s aesthetic approach, but some of
his works are a direct reaction to Warhol’s
message and effect on twentieth-century
art. Fairey understands the heavy
influence of the media and propaganda on
contemporary society, and thereby utilizes
a similar style. He wishes to communicate
in a lucid language in hopes of
immediately captivating everyday
pedestrians. Likewise, his propagandistic
approach is Fairey’s way of commenting
on the ongoing manipulation of consumer
culture and society’s close dependency on
the media.

15. Shepard Fairey, “Two Sides of Capitalism: Good,” 2007

16. Shepard Fairey, “Two Sides of Capitalism: Bad,” 2007
The majority of Fairey’s political work shares his distaste for American
capitalism. In many cases, he utilizes the visual language of the very
subjects he critiques, thereby forcing viewers to question their habitual
behavior and challenge the cultural paradigm.

17. Shepard Fairey, “Obama Hope,” 2008
Perhaps most renowned for his “Obama
Hope” poster, Fairey’s fame skyrocketed
within the past two years during President
Obama’s election campaign. Aside from the
Time and Esquire magazine covers, the
artist’s reproduced icon has infiltrated urban
societies throughout the country.
Unlike his previous works that typically
practiced political satire and social critique,
Fairey’s Obama posters introduced a new
optimistic voice. They carry no hidden irony,
but rather demonstrate his support for the
candidate in hopes of spurring populist
advocacy during election campaigns.
Just recently in January 2009, the
Smithsonian Museum hung a hand-finished
version in the National Portrait Gallery—an
honor awarded to individuals who have made
a significant contribution to U.S. culture.
Fairey’s image hangs aside many other iconic
portraits of previous presidents who have
shaped American history.

18. Shepard Fairey making the “Obama Hope” poster, 2008
“Your images have a profound effect on people,
whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign.”
-President Obama’s letter to Shepard Fairey,
February 22nd, 2008

19. “I’m a populist—I’m trying to reach as many people as possible.”
-Shepard Fairey, “Outlaws at the Art Museum,” by Randy Kennedy, in The New York
Times

20. Shepard Fairey, “Inauguration Print,” 2009
Due to the success of his
campaign posters and Obama’s
appreciation for the artist’s
activism, Fairey was
commissioned to design a poster
advertising Obama’s 2009
inauguration.

21. Shepard Fairey, “Marilyn Warhol,” 2000
In response to the many critiques Fairey
receives for reconstructing pre-
conceived images, Fairey explains that
every creator must be “inspired by
something and make an evolution”—in
other words, a creator must “build on
ideas.” As a graphic artist, he realizes
his responsibility to communicate clearly,
and thereby exercises the vernacular of
the moment.
-Shepard Fairey, “A.V. Club Interview,”
By Justin Shady
However, while utilizing visual
paradigms, Fairey also confronts the
media’s ruthless exploitation that
inevitably yields profit. He hopes that his
propagandistic imagery will inspire
individuals to question the media’s
overwhelming impact on society.

22. The growing recognition for Shepard
Fairey’s work has not only redefined
society’s definition of “art,” but also
sanctified street art to a different
level. Fairey has challenged the
exclusivity of western art institutions,
thereby revolutionizing a new
appreciation for both street art and
propagandistic approaches.
Despite his recent exhibitions in
various art galleries, he continues
gracing urban walls while creating
other consumerist work. All the while,
he remains faithful to the
fundamental incentives behind his
expression: to “stimulate curiosity”
and “question everything.”
-Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey, “Immigration Reform Now!” 2009