Street art by Banksy in Bristol.

Sociopolitical street art mural painting by SKORE183 - "Bu¥ €uro Bond$" in Munich Germany.

Street art by WATTTS in Paris

"Divorced" by Morley in Los Angeles, CA.

Street art by Jacek Tylicki in New York 1982.

"Painting in the Global Tradition" by Ces53, a Dutch street artist

Mural by BLU - "Gaza Strip" in Praha

Street art by John Fekner in Jackson Heights NY.

Street art is art, specifically visual art, developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, sculpture, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, and street installations. Typically, the term street art or the more specific post-graffiti is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.

Artists have challenged art by situating it in non-art contexts. ‘Street’ artists do not aspire to change the definition of an artwork, but rather to question the existing environment with its own language. They attempt to have their work communicate with everyday people about socially relevant themes in ways that are informed by esthetic values without being imprisoned by them.^[1] John Fekner defines street art as “all art on the street that’s not graffiti.”^[2]

Techniques[link]

Whereas traditional graffiti artists have primarily used free-hand aerosol paints to produce their works,^[3] "street art" encompasses many other media and techniques, including: LED art, mosaic tiling, murals, stencil art, sticker art, street installations, wheatpasting, woodblocking, video projection, and yarn bombing.

Traditional graffiti also has increasingly been adopted as a method for advertising; its trajectory has even in some cases led its artists to work on contract as graphic artists for corporations.^[4] Nevertheless, street art is a label often adopted by artists who wish to keep their work unaffiliated and strongly political. Street artists are those whose work is still largely done without official approval in public areas.

For these reasons street art is sometimes considered "post-graffiti" and sometimes even "neo-graffiti."^[5] Street art can be found around the world and street artists often travel to other countries foreign to them so they can spread their designs.

Motivation[link]

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (November 2010)

The motivations and objectives that drive street artists are as varied as the artists themselves. There is a strong current of activism and subversion in urban art. Street art can be a powerful platform for reaching the public, and frequent themes include adbusting, subvertising and other culture jamming, the abolishment of private property and reclaiming the streets. Some street artists use "smart vandalism" as a way to raise awareness of social and political issues.^[6] Other street artists simply see urban space as an untapped format for personal artwork, while others may appreciate the challenges and risks that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places. However the universal theme in most, if not all street art, is that adapting visual artwork into a format which utilizes public space, allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised, to reach a much broader audience than traditional artwork and galleries normally allow.

Street artists[link]

Many street artist have earned international attention for their work and have shown their works in museums or galleries as well as on the street. It is also not uncommon for street artists to achieve commercial success doing graphics for other companies or starting their own merchandising lines. Other street artists have transitioned away from street art to traditional gallery and museum exhibitions.

In 1981, Washington Project for the Arts held an exhibition entitled Street Works, which included John Fekner, Fab Five Freddy and Lee Quinones working directly on the streets.^[7] Fekner, a pioneer in urban art, is included in Cedar Lewisohn’s book Street Art: The Graffiti Revolution, which accompanied the 2008 Street Art exhibition at the Tate Modern in England, of which Lewisohn was the curator.

The 1990 book Soho Walls – Beyond Graffiti by David Robinson^[8] documents the paradigm shift in New York from the text-based precedents established by graffiti artists toward art in the streets such as the shadow figures by Richard Hambleton and the group of five young New York artists working collectively under the moniker AVANT.^[9]

Key locations[link]

While practically all large cities in the world, and some of the larger regional towns, host some form of urban art or graffiti, there are a few locations that are considered to harbour forerunners of particular mediums or foster a pioneering street art culture in general. Such locations often attract internationally known artists who travel to these locations to exhibit their works. The following is a partial list of the most notable locations.

Europe[link]

• Bulgaria: Sofia - In the night between the 17th and the 18th of June 2011 the monument of the Soviet Army in Sofia was painted by anonymous street artists. The Soviet soldiers depicted in the monument for a few days turned into Superman, Ronald McDonald, Santa Claus and others. It was a controversial subject and there were many supporters of the monument staying painted and many against it. In the early morning of June 21, 2011 the monument was cleaned.
• Germany, Berlin: Street art on the Berlin Wall was famous during the time the city was divided; since reunification Berlin has become of Europe's street art strongholds. Bizarre post-communist locations, cheap rents and ramshackle buildings gave rise to a vibrant street art scene. Hotspots include Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain.
• Finland: Helsinki - The street art scene in Finland had its growth spurt from the eighties onwards, until in 1998 the city of Helsinki began a ten year zero tolerance policy which made all forms of street art illegal, punished with high fines and enforced through private security contractors. The policy ended in 2008, after which legal walls and art collectives have been established. Well-known artists in Finland include Otto Maja and Bujahuli.
• Italy has been very active in street art since the end of the 90's; some of the most famous street artists include BLU, 108, and Sten Lex.
• France: Paris is also a very active street art scene with artists such as Space Invader, Zevs, Mosko et Associés, Mesnager, Zoo Project.^[10] It started with the Lettrism and then with a Situationist slogan painted on a wall in Paris.^[11] The nouveau realist, including Jacques Villeglé, Yves Klein and Arman interact with public space but stay, like Pop Art in a classic studio/gallery relation. On 1962, The Rideau de Fer (Iron Curtain) By Christo and Jeanne-Claude is an example of early uncommissioned art. The Same year sees the first can spray work by pioneer Gérard Zlotykamien. After the "chienlit" (expression coined by General De Gaulle to qualify the May 1968 mini-revolution, Paris, like New-York has major city works but no Factory as important as Warhol's. In the 1970s, the work of Daniel Buren appeared in the Paris subway. Blek le Rat and the Figuration Libre (including Claude Closky and Pierre Huyghe) became active in the 1980s.
• Norway: Stavanger is host to the annual Nuart Festival, one of Europe's leading events dedicated to promoting street art.
• Poland: Łódź in September 2011, under the patronage of Mayor Hanna Zdanowska, a permanent city exhibition was financed called Urban Forms Gallery.^[12] The exhibition included work from some of Poland's elite street artists as well as some more globally known artists. Since the 1990s street art has been prevalent in Poland, which is most likely related to the collapse of communism in 1989. Street art is largely, though not exclusively, inspired by the hip-hop music scene. It is mostly accepted by the public, with the authorities occasionally giving licence to artists to decorate public spots. Despite this, public property is still illegally targeted in some cases. Warsaw and Gdansk are among some of the other Polish cities with a vibrant street art culture.^[13][14]
• Russia: Moscow, in 2010 the New York Times reported that the city was increasingly becoming a stage for local and international graffiti artists. The Street Kit Gallery, opened in 2008 is dedicated to street art organizes nomadic events in galleries, pop-up spaces and streets all over Moscow. The 2009 Moscow International Biennale for Young Art included a section for street art. Active artists include Make, RUS, and Kiev-based Interesni Kazki (also active in Miami and Los Angeles).^[15]
• Spain: Major Spanish coastal cities such as Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza have a vibrant street art scene.^[16]
• UK:
  • Bristol is part of a street art scene, due in part to the success of Banksy.^[17]
  • London has become one of the most pro-graffiti cities in the world. Although officially condemned and heavily enforced, street art has a huge following and in many ways is embraced by the public.^{[citation needed]}

.

Spray-paint graffiti on a wall in Rome

Middle East[link]

• Egypt: Cairo has emerged as the street art capital of the Middle East in 2011, according to the New York Times. The scene began with slogans calling for the overthrow of the Mubarak regime and has evolved into aesthetic and politically provocative motifs.^[18]
• Street art from Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, and Libya has gained notoriety since the Arab Spring, including a 2012 exhibition in Madrid' s Casa Árabe^[19]

North America[link]

Canada[link]

• Toronto has a significant graffiti scene

United States[link]

• Atlanta: (see Street art in Atlanta) small but growing street art scene in the Krog Street Tunnel, Old Fourth Ward and Reynoldstown neighborhoods, and along the 22-mile BeltLine path which circles the inner city along industrial and residential spaces. Host of the Living Walls street art conference. However, in May 2011 Atlanta established a Graffiti Task Force. In October 2011 the police arrested 7 persons that they designated as vandals and some regard as artists. However, city officials assert that they have no intention of stifling the street art scene. The city selected 29 murals which would not be painted over including those commissioned as part of the BeltLine and works created during the Living Walls conferences. But the list did not include the most famous street art space in the city, the Krog Street Tunnel. Many street artists and members of the arts community interviewed by Creative Loafing believe the city's efforts are misdirected or futile.^[20][21]
• Los Angeles: influential art and intriguing graffiti pieces throughout the city. Key locations include Sunset Boulevard, La Brea, Beverly Boulevard, La Cienega, Melrose Avenue, and Hollywood to name a few. On May 13, 2011, LAB ART Los Angeles opened on La Brea Avenue, the world's largest art gallery dedicated to street art. Spanning 6,500 square feet (600 m2) of space, it features over 300 works of art and installation from over 30 street artists including Alec Monopoly, Thank You X and Smear.^[22][23]
• Miami's Wynwood is home to Wynwood Walls, an outdoor mural permanent exhibit featuring some of the world's most renowned street artists. Additionally there are hundreds of other street art and graffiti murals around the district curated yearly by Primary Flight, making it one of the biggest street art districts in in the world.
• New York City's street art scene has its origins in the subway graffiti scene of the 1960s and 1970s, and New York continues to be a street art mecca in the U.S.^[24] Areas rich in street art include Chelsea, SoHo and the Lower East Side in Manhattan, and Williamsburg and Dumbo — especially near the waterfront — in Brooklyn.^[25]
• Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program is the largest street art program in the United States. I began in 1984 as an effort spearheaded by then Mayor Wilson Goode to eradicate the graffiti crisis plaguing the city. Muralist Jane Golden was hired to reach out to graffiti writers and to redirect their energies from destructive graffiti writing to constructive mural painting. Today, over 3,000 murals painted by local artists and artists from all over the world can be found throughout Philadelphia. The award-winning program has earned Philadelphia international praise as the "City of Murals".^[26]
• Pittsburgh's murals funded by The Sprout Fund were named the "Best Public Art" by the Pittsburgh City Paper in 2006.^[27]
• San Francisco's Mission District is renowned for its densely packed street art^[28] along Mission Street, and all along both Clarion Alley and Balmy Alley. By 2010 street art was also being created in Hayes Valley, SoMa, Bayview-Hunters Point and the Tenderloin.^[29]

South America[link]

• Argentina: Buenos Aires has an active street art scene throughout the city. Ever is a Buenos Aires artist whose work has gained an international recognition, including at the Living Walls conference.^[30]
• Brazil: São Paulo has an internationally recognized street art scene in addition to pichação, rune-like black graffiti which many creators say expresses feelings of class conflict.^[31]

Asia-Pacific[link]

• Australia:
  • Melbourne (see Street art in Melbourne) is home to one of the world's most active and diverse street art cultures and is home to pioneers in the stencil medium. Street artists such as Blek le Rat and Banksy often exhibited works on Melbourne's streets in the 2000s. Works are supported and preserved by local councils. Key locations within the city include Brunswick, Carlton, Fitzroy, Northcote, and the city centre including the famous Hosier Lane.
  • Perth also has a small street art scene
  • Sydney's street art scene includes Newtown area graffiti and street art
• New Zealand: Auckland street artin 2009, decorated corners of the city far and wide with sophisticated graphic imagery. Formats and themes include stencil drawings of aerosol-can characters, sharks, and angels; murals of muscle men to intergalactic space settings; and "throw-ups" of artists' signatures in elaborate, bubble-shaped characters. Auckland's city council permitted electrical boxes to be used as canvases for street art. Local crew TMD (The Most Def) won the “Write For Gold” international competition in Germany two years in a row. Surplus Bargains is another local collective.^[32]

Festivals and conferences[link]

Living Walls is an annual street art conference founded in 2009.^[33] In 2010 it was hosted in Atlanta and in 2011 jointly in Atlanta and Albany, New York. Living Walls was also active promoting street art at Art Basel Miami Beach 2011.^[34]

Gallery[link]

• 

  Sociopolitic Street Art from Skore183 - "Freedom" in Munich

• 

  "Lock On" installation welded in iron, by street artist Tejn. Copenhagen, Denmark. 2012

• 

  "The naked truth" by street artist ABOVE. Site specific stencil, installation, and word-play in Copenhagen, Denmark. 2009

• 

  A street art installation by anonymous LONDON PJN in Amsterdam, 2008

• Sao Paulo-Street Mural.jpg

  A street art mural in São Paulo, Brazil

• 

  "Drive-In" by AVANT, 1983, wheatpasted paintings in SoHo, NYC

• 

  "Exact Change" by AVANT, 1982-3, bus stops in NYC

• 

  "Triad" by AVANT, 1983, sheet-metal paintings bolted to NYC signposts

• 

  Street art in Melbourne

• 

  A painted store front gate with Above's arrows in New York City, 2010

• 

  "Astronaut Cosmonaut" by Ash, Berlin, 2007

• 

  Poster art, Melbourne

• 

  Large stencils, Melbourne

• 

  Stencil art, Melbourne

• 

  Stencil art, Melbourne

• 

  Street art in Buenos Aires

• 

  Child labour for profit street art By Kakos in Brighton UK

• 

  Political street art mural from SKORE183 - "in Greed we Trust" in Munich Germany

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: street art

• Public art
• Father Pat Noise
• Guerrilla marketing
• List of street artists
• Mission School
• MONU - magazine on urbanism
• Reclaim the Streets
• Street art in Melbourne
• Street installation
• Street poster art
• Wooster Collective

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Documentary films[link]

• Rock Fresh (2004), a documentary film about the challenging world of the graffiti artist
• RASH (2005), a feature length documentary by Mutiny Media exploring the cultural value of Australian street art and graffiti
• Bomb It (2008), a documentary film about graffiti and street art around the world
• Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), a documentary created by the artist Banksy about Thierry Guetta
• Roadsworth: Crossing the Line (2007), a documentary film about the legal struggle of Montreal street artist Roadsworth
• Street Art Awards (2010), opening of the street art festival in Berlin

External links[link]

• Street Art at the Open Directory Project

v t e Street art Culture Activism Aerosol paint Culture jamming Direct action Graffiti (terminology use theory) Guerrilla art Hip hop culture Installation art Kolam Murals Propaganda Reverse graffiti Screenprinting Spray paint art Stencil graffiti Sticker art Subway Art Yarn bombing Lists of artists Street Graffiti Poster Stencil Wheatpaste Places Atlanta Berlin (Berlin Wall) Hong Kong (Free Ai Weiwei campaign) Melbourne Philadelphia San Francisco (Balmy Alley·Clarion Alley) São Paulo (pixação) Sydney (Newtown area) Toronto Companies Monstercolors Events Living Walls Related articles Built environment MTA Pixação Public art Public space Psychogeography Rapid transit Street party Urban planning Vandalism

Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Birth name	Frank Shepard Fairey
Born	(1970-02-15) February 15, 1970 (age 42) Charleston, South Carolina
Spouse	Amanda Fairey
Field	Public art, Stenciling
Training	Rhode Island School of Design
Works	Andre the Giant has a Posse Obey Giant Hope Rock the Vote

Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary graphic designer and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding^[1] scene. He first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (…OBEY…) sticker campaign, in which he appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. His work became more widely known in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, specifically his Barack Obama "Hope" poster. The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one of today's best known and most influential street artists.^[2] 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, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.^[3][4]

Early life[link]

Shepard Fairey was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. His father, Strait Fairey, is a doctor, and his mother, Charlotte, a realtor.^[5] Fairey became involved with art in 1984, when he started to place his drawings on skateboards and T-shirts.^[6][7]

Education[link]

In 1988, he graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy, and in 1992, Fairey graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration.^[8]

Career[link]

Fairey's first art museum exhibition, titled Supply & Demand like his earlier book, was in Boston at the Institute of Contemporary Art in the summer of 2009. The exhibition featured over 250 works in a wide variety of media: screen prints, stencils, stickers, rubylith illustrations, collages, and works on wood, metal and canvas. As a complement to the ICA exhibition, Fairey created public art works around Boston. The artist explains his driving motivation: "The real message behind most of my work is 'question everything.'"^[4]

Shepard Fairey

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.^[9] In May 2006, Fairey became a board member of the Music Is Revolution Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that supports music education for students in public schools.^[10] Fairey resides in Los Angeles with his wife Amanda and daughters Vivienne and Madeline.^[11]

Fairey created the "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign in 1989, while attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).^[12] This later evolved into the "Obey Giant" campaign, which has grown via an international network of collaborators replicating Fairey's original designs.^[13] As with most street artists, the Obey Giant was intended to inspire curiosity and cause the masses to question their relationship with their surroundings.

The Obey Giant website says: "The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker." The website later goes on to contradict this statement however by saying that those who are familiar with the sticker simply find humor and enjoyment from its presence. Those who actually try to look deeper into its meaning only burden themselves and often end up condemning the art as an act of vandalism from an evil, underground cult.

Originally intended to garner fame amongst his classmates and college peers, Fairey states "At first I was only thinking about the response from my clique of art school and skateboard friends. The fact that a larger segment of the public would not only notice, but investigate, the unexplained appearance of the stickers was something I had not contemplated. 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."^[14]

In a manifesto he wrote in 1990, and since posted on his website, he links his work with Heidegger's concept of phenomenology.^[15] 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.^{[citation needed]} He also uses the slogan "The Medium is the Message" borrowed from Marshall McLuhan. Shepard Fairey has also stated in an interview that part of his work is inspired by other street artists.

After graduation, he founded a small printing business in Providence, Rhode Island, called Alternate Graphics, specializing in t-shirt and sticker silkscreens, which afforded Fairey the ability to continue pursuing his own artwork.^[16][17] 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, along with Dave Kinsey and Phillip DeWolff, of the design studio BLK/MRKT Inc. from 1997–2003, which specialised in guerrilla marketing, and "the development of high-impact marketing campaigns".^[18] Clients included Pepsi, Hasbro and Netscape^[18] (for whom Fairey designed the red dinosaur version of mozilla.org's logo and mascot).

OBEY Giant clothing sold at a Nordstrom department store

In 2003 he founded the Studio Number One design agency with his wife Amanda Fairey.^[19] The agency produced the cover work for The Black Eyed Peas' album Monkey Business and the poster for the film Walk the Line.^[19] Fairey has also designed the covers for The Smashing Pumpkins' album Zeitgeist,^[20] Flogging Molly's CD/DVD Whiskey on a Sunday, the Led Zeppelin compilation Mothership and Anthrax's The Greater Of Two Evils.

In 2004, Fairey joined artists Robbie Conal and Mear One to create a series of "anti-war, anti-Bush" posters for a street art campaign called "Be the Revolution" for the art collective "Post Gen". "Be the Revolution" kicked off with a night of performances featuring Z-Trip, Ozomatli and David J at the Avalon in Hollywood. Fairey also co-founded Swindle Magazine along with Roger Gastman.

In 2005 he collaborated for a second time with Z-Trip on a limited edition 12-inch featuring Chuck D entitled "Shock and Awe." In 2005 Fairey also collaborated with DJ Shadow on a box set, with t-shirts, stickers, prints, and a mix CD by Shadow. In 2005 he showed abroad, for instance in Paris at the Galerie Magda Danysz. In 2005 also, he was a resident artist at the Contemporary Museum, Honolulu. Also in 2005 Fairey contributed the artwork for the posters, cover art, and graphics for the biopic of Johnny Cash, Walk The Line. In 2006, Fairey contributed eight vinyl etchings to a limited-edition series of 12" singles by post-punk band Mission of Burma, and has also done work for the musical group Interpol.

The book Supply and Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey was released in 2006. In 2008, Philosophy of Obey (Obey Giant): The Formative Years (1989–2008), edited by Sarah Jaye Williams, was published by Nerve Books UK, and praised by Fairey.^[21]

In June 2007, Fairey opened his one man show entitled "E Pluribus Venom", at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. The show made the arts section front page in The New York Times.^[22]

Fairey donated original cover art to the 2008 album Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran, produced for Iraq War documentary Body of War. Proceeds from the album benefit non-profit organization Iraq Veterans Against the War.

In 2008 Fairey teamed up again with Z-Trip to do a series of shows in support of then presidential candidate Barack Obama entitled Party For Change. Fairey also designed posters for the British goth band Bauhaus.

In September 2008, Shepard opened his solo show titled "Duality of Humanity" at The Shooting Gallery in San Francisco.^[23] His third solo show with the gallery featured one hundred and fifty works, including the largest collection of canvases pieces in one show that he's done.

Fairey was arrested on February 7, 2009, on his way to the premiere of his show at the Institute of Contemporary Art^[24] in Boston, Massachusetts, on two outstanding warrants related to graffiti. He was charged with damage to property for having postered two Boston area locations with graffiti, a Boston Police Department spokesman said.^[25] His arrest was announced to party goers by longtime friend Z-Trip who had been performing at the ICA premiere at Shepard Fairey's request.

On April 27, 2009, Fairey put three signed copies of his Obama inauguration posters up on eBay, with the proceeds of the auction going to the One Love For Chi foundation, founded by the family of Deftones bassist Chi Cheng following a car accident in November 2008 that nearly claimed Cheng's life.^[26]

Lance Armstrong rode a Trek Madone styled by Fairey in the 2009 Giro d'Italia, starting on May 9, 2009 in Venice, Italy.^[27]

In addition to his successful graphic design career, Fairey also DJs at many clubs under the name DJ Diabetic and Emcee Insulin, as he has diabetes.^[28]

In 2011 Time Magazine commissioned Fairey to design its cover to honor "The Protester" as Person of the Year in the wake of the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street and other social movements around the world.^[29] This was Fairey's second Person of the Year cover for Time, his first being of Barack Obama in 2008.

[edit] The Hope poster

Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama's 2008 candidacy for President of the United States, including the iconic "HOPE" portrait.^[30][31] The New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl called the poster "the most efficacious American political illustration since 'Uncle Sam Wants You'".^[32][33] Fairey also created an exclusive design for Rock the Vote. Because the Hope poster had been "perpetuated illegally" and independently by the street artist, the Obama campaign declined to have any direct affiliation with it.^[34] Although the campaign officially disavowed any involvement in the creation or popularization of the poster, Fairey has commented in interviews that he was in communication with campaign officials during the period immediately following the poster's release. Fairey has stated that the original version featured the word "PROGRESS" instead of the word "HOPE," and that within weeks of its release, the campaign requested that he issue (and legally disseminate) a new version, keeping the powerful image of Obama's face but captioning it with the word "HOPE".^[35] The campaign openly embraced the revised poster along with two additional Fairey posters that featured the words "CHANGE" and "VOTE".

Fairey distributed 300,000 stickers and 500,000 posters during the campaign,^[35] funding his grassroots electioneering through poster and fine art sales. "I just put all that money back into making more stuff, so I didn't keep any of the Obama money," said Fairey in December 2008.^[34]

In February 2008, Fairey received a letter of thanks from Obama for his contribution to the campaign.^[36] The letter stated:

I would like to thank you for using your talent in support of my campaign. The political messages involved in your work have encouraged Americans to believe they can change the status-quo. Your images have a profound effect on people, whether seen in a gallery or on a stop sign. I am privileged to be a part of your artwork and proud to have your support. I wish you continued success and creativity.– Barack Obama, February 22, 2008^[37]

Building in Denver, Colorado with Fairey poster of Obama.

On November 5, 2008, Chicago posted banners throughout the downtown business district featuring Fairey's Obama "HOPE" portrait.^[38]

Fairey created a similar but new image of Barack Obama for Time magazine, which was used as the cover art for the 2008 Person of the Year issue.^[39] The original iconic "HOPE" portrait was featured on the cover of Esquire Magazine's February 2009 issue, this time with a caption reading, "WHAT NOW?" Shepard Fairey's influence throughout the presidential election was a factor in the artist himself having been named a Person of the Year for 2008 by GQ.

In January 2009, the "HOPE" portrait was acquired by the US National Portrait Gallery and made part of its permanent collection.^[40] It was unveiled and put on display on January 17, 2009.^[41]

During his December 8, 2010 appearance on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert asked Fairey how he felt about having done the "HOPE" portrait of Obama and how "that hope was working out for him now?" to which Fairey replied: "You know, I'm proud of it as a piece of grassroots activism, but I'll just leave it at that".^{[citation needed]}

Fairey created a mutt version of the red, white and blue poster, donating it to help support pet adoptions, from an image of a rescued shaggy dog taken by photographer Clay Myers. Four hundred limited edition prints were offered by Adopt-A-Pet.com, a non-profit organization that helps shelters, humane societies and rescue groups advertise their homeless pets to potential adopters.^[42] The poster, which was also offered as a free download, was featured on the cover of the spring 2009 edition of Dog’s Life magazine.^[43]

Legal issues with appropriation and fair use[link]

Fairey has been criticized for failing to obtain permission and to provide attribution for works he used.^[44][45] Fairey has threatened to sue artists for the same technique. Austin, Texas graphic designer Baxter Orr did his own take on Fairey's work in a piece called Protect, with the iconic Obey Giant face covered by a SARS respiratory mask.^[46] Orr marketed the prints as his own work. On April 23, 2008, Orr received a cease-and-desist order from Fairey's attorneys, telling him to stop selling Protect because it violated Fairey's trademark. Fairey threatened to sue, calling the designer a "parasite".^[47]

Originally, Fairey had claimed his HOPE poster was based on a 2006 copyrighted photo of then-Senator Barack Obama seated next to actor George Clooney, taken in April 2006 by Mannie Garcia on assignment for the Associated Press (AP), which wanted credit and compensation for the work.^[48] Garcia believes that he personally owns the copyright for the photo, and has said, "If you put all the legal stuff away, I’m so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it's had."^[49] Fairey said his use of the photograph fell within the legal definition of fair use.^[50] Lawyers for both sides tried to reach an amicable agreement.^[51]

"Fair use" is determined by how much a new work changes an older one. At first Fairey claimed he used the photo of Clooney and Obama and cropped the actor out of the shot and made changes. In February 2009, Fairey filed a federal lawsuit against the Associated Press, seeking a declaratory judgment that his use of the AP photograph was protected by the fair use doctrine and so did not infringe their copyright.^[52] In October 2009 Shepard Fairey admitted he had tried to deceive the Court by destroying evidence that he had instead used the photograph alleged by the AP. Fairey admitted he had used a close-up shot of Obama, also taken by Mannie Garcia, as the AP had long alleged. The solo photo appears much more similar to the final HOPE poster than the photo of Clooney and Obama.

Fairey's lawyers announced they were no longer representing him, and Laurence Pulgram, an intellectual property lawyer stated that the revelation definitely put Mr. Fairey's case "in trouble".^[53][54] In May 2010, a judge urged Fairey to settle.^[55] The parties settled in January 2011.^[56] On February 24 2012 Fairey pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of court for "destroying documents and manufacturing evidence."^[57][58]

Critical response[link]

Shepard Fairey at a book signing for Supply & Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey

Fairey was questioned about criticism surrounding his use of images from social movements, specifically images created by artists of color, in an interview with Liam O'Donoghue for Mother Jones. O'Donoghue later posted an article, titled "Shepard Fairey’s Image Problem", on several independent media sites.^[59] The article explored Fairey's use of copyright protected images while at the same time defending his copyright protected works from being used by other artists and corporations. Fairey cited his collaboration with Public Enemy, his funding of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, and his six-figure charitable contributions for Darfur assistance as counterpoints to the charges of exploitation. "I challenge anybody to fuck with that, know what I mean," Fairey stated. "It's not like I'm just jumping on some cool rebel cause for the sake of exploiting it for profit. People like to talk shit, but it's usually to justify their own apathy. I don't want to demean anyone's struggles through casual appropriation of something powerful; that's not my intention."^[60]

Erick Lyle has accused Fairey of cynically turning graffiti culture into a self-promoting ad campaign.^[61] On the other hand, San Diego Union-Tribune art critic Robert L. Pincus says Fairey's work "is political art with a strong sense of visual style and emotional authenticity. Even in times when political art has ebbed, Fairey's has just the right balance of seriousness, irony and wit to fit the mood of the moment."^[62] The Walrus contributor Nick Mount wrote "Following the example set by gallery art, some street art is more about the concept than the art. 'Fuck Bush' isn’t an aesthetic; it’s an ethic. Shepard Fairey’s Obey Giant stickers and Akay’s Akayism posters are clever children of Duchamp, ironic conceptual art."^[63] However, Stephen Heller of The New York Times suggested that Fairey’s political art is not any more unique than political art from the past, yet compares, in fact and in equal terms, to political art created by Andy Warhol.^[64]

In a New York Times review of "E Pluribus Venom" at Jonathan LeVine Gallery, art critic Benjamin Genocchio described Fairey’s art as “generic” despite the range of mediums and styles used by the artist. Genocchio went on to say that it was tempting to see Fairey’s art as just another luxury commodity.^[65]

The director of Ad Hoc Art, Andrew Michael Ford, has stated for the New York Times that Fairey‘s practice does not “match up“ in the minds of people who view his work. Ford suggests that some people will view Fairey’s work as “very commercial”. In his criticism of Fairey’s art he went on to suggest that Fairey is “ripe” for criticism because he profits off of politically and socially charged works. Ford stated that despite his criticism he is a fan of Fairey work.^[66]

Mark Vallen, Lincoln Cushing, Josh MacPhee, and Favianna Rodriguez have documented how Fairey has appropriated work by Koloman Moser, Ralph Chaplin, Pirkle Jones, Rupert Garcia, Rene Mederos, Félix Beltrán, Gary Grimshaw, among others.^[67] For instance, in his critique, "Obey Plagiarist Shepard Fairey", the artist Mark Vallen dissects various pieces of Fairey's work, proving them to be directly plagiarized from the work of other artists.^[68] Although Jamie O'Shea takes that criticism to task for a "nearly ubiquitous lack of understanding of the artist’s use of appropriated imagery in his work and the longstanding historical precedent for this mode of creative expression" in addition to being masked in a thin "veneer of obvious envy in most cases."^[69]

Art critic Brian Sherwin lashed out at O’Shea’s criticism of Mark Vallen by saying that O’Shea’s SUPERTOUCH article was nothing more than “damage control”. Sherwin questioned the intentions of O’Shea’s support for Fairey. Sherwin pointed out that Fairey is a SUPERTOUCH author as well as a business associate of O’Shea. Sherwin suggests that O’Shea has a “vested” interest in making sure that Fairey is viewed positively by the public since he has curated art exhibits involving Fairey and has written extensively about Fairey. Sherwin wrote that O’Shea once served as editor in chief for Juxtapoz and has worked as a creative director hired by corporate art collections as a corporate liaison for acquisitions. Sherwin concluded that the public will “question the artist who says to question everything” regardless of O’Shea’s Mark Vallen “damage control” on SUPERTOUCH. Sherwin implied that O'Shea's critique of Vallen was selective because key negative facts about Fairey's history were left out in the article.^[70] The dispute between Sherwin and O’Shea was cited by Dan Wasserman on The Boston Globe’s "Out of Line".^[71]

Bloggers have criticized Fairey for accepting commissions from corporations such as Saks Fifth Avenue, for which his design agency produced illustrations inspired by Constructivism and Alexander Rodchenko.^[72] Fairey defends his corporate commissions by saying that clients like Saks Fifth Avenue help him to keep his studio operational and his assistants employed.^[6] Fairey has acknowledged the irony of being a street artist exploring themes of free speech while at the same time being an artist hired by corporations for consumer campaigns. Of this he has stated that designers and artists need to make money.^[73] "I consider myself a populist artist," Fairey says. "I want to reach people through as many different platforms as possible. Street art is a bureaucracy-free way of reaching people, but T-shirts, stickers, commercial jobs, the Internet – there are so many different ways that I use to put my work in front of people."^[6]

In August 2011, Fairey received a black eye and a bruised rib after being attacked outside of the Kodboderne 18 nightclub in Copenhagen, Denmark. Fairey claims the two assailants called him "Obama illuminati" and ordered him to "go back to America". He believes the attack was the result of a misunderstanding over his artwork commemorating the demolition of the legendary Ungdomshuset (youth house) at Jagtvej 69. His mural of a peace dove in flight surrounded by a circle of Tønder lace above the word “Peace” was vandalized within 24 hours of its unveiling with graffiti slogans "no peace" and "go home, Yankee hipster".^[74]

The media reported that the artwork was commissioned by the city of Copenhagen, but this was not true. The original mural was organized by Fairey's Copenhagen gallery, V1, and was not a government sponsored propaganda piece.^[74]

Appearances in other media[link]

• Fairey designed the album artwork for Flogging Molly's 'Whiskey On A Sunday'.
• Appears in the 2006 videogame, Marc Ecko's Getting Up : Contents Under Pressure, as himself.
• Fairey provided the design for the Obey Giant room at The Creek South Beach.
• Fairey designed the cover for the books Woodstock Experience by Michael Lang, Dan Garson, Henry Diltz (Genesis Publications, 2009)), A Heartbeat and A Guitar: Johnny Cash and the Making of Bitter Tears. (Basic Books/Nation Books, 2009) by Antonino D'Ambrosio and the cover of the Smashing Pumpkins album Zeitgeist, Led Zeppelin's Mothership, Sage Francis's Li(f)e, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers The Live Anthology and, in 2010, Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots (album).
• He designed the album cover for will.i.am's second solo album Must B 21.
• On January 19, 2009, Fairey created a Google Doodle for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.^[75]
• On January 20, 2009, Fairey made a radio appearance on the Fresh Air program from WHYY, an NPR affiliate, discussing his "Hope" poster, the official Obama inauguration poster and his many arrests (14 times) in connection with the installation of his "street" works.^[76] On February 26, 2009, he was again a guest on Fresh Air discussing the Associated Press lawsuit over the Obama Hope poster.^[77]
• On February 11, 2010, Stephen Colbert debuted a poster on The Colbert Report that was designed in collaboration with Fairey. The poster, created for Colbert's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics, depicts Colbert wearing a crown of leaves, carrying an Olympic torch and riding an eagle, with the catchphrase, "Vancouver 2010: Defeat the World".^[78][79]
• Rash, Video Documentary 2005. 17 minute interview conducted in April 2003 with Shepard Fairey in Sydney Australia. Includes footage of Shepard and partner Barbara installing a paste up wall in a gallery side event at Semi Permanent conference in Sydney.
• Fairey's iconic Obey logo appears in several levels of the Tony Hawk's Underground 2 video game. It also appears briefly in part two of the anime Afro Samurai.
• The "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" is also a stock spray image in Valve's popular video game title CounterStrike (v1.6, the spray was not included in CounterStrike: Source)
• Fairey features heavily in the Banksy movie Exit Through the Gift Shop, which documents the birth of Mr. Brainwash.
• Along with artists Frank Stella and Andres Serrano, Fairey appeared on The Colbert Report on December 8, 2010. As part of a segment with comedian Steve Martin, Fairey sprayed his Obey logo on a portrait of Colbert.^[80][81]
• On the September 13, 2011 episode of The Young and the Restless, an American television soap opera, character Devon Hamilton purchased a Shepard Fairey original, Commanda, as the first piece of art for his new office.
• On the March 4, 2012 episode of The Simpsons, Fairey appeared as himself.

See also[link]

• Banksy
• Above (artist)
• Mr. Brainwash
• Blek le Rat
• List of urban artists
• Street art

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Mayday: The Art of Shepard Fairey Gingko Press; First edition (December 10, 2010)
• E Pluribus Venom by Shepard Fairey (2008) Gingko Press.
• Philosophy of Obey (Obey Giant): The Formative Years (1989–2008), edited by Sarah Jaye Williams (2008), Nerve Books UK.
• Obey: Supply & Demand, The Art of Shepard Fairey by Shepard Fairey (2006), Gingko Press.
• Wortham, Jenna (September 21, 2008). "'Obey' Street Artist Churns Out 'Hope' for Obama". Wired News (CondéNet). http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/09/poster-boy-shep.html. Retrieved September 21, 2008. 
• Bearman, Joshuah (October 1, 2008). "Street Cred: Why would Barack Obama invite a graffiti artist with a long rap sheet to launch a guerrilla marketing campaign on his behalf?,". Modern Painters (artinfo.com). http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/28602/street-cred/. Retrieved October 1, 2008. 
• Beautiful Losers (film)

External links[link]

• Obey Giant Website
• Shepard Fairey on National Public Radio in 2009
• Shepard Fairey on National Public Radio in 2008
• Interview on Huffington Post
• Interview with Manuel Bello
• Shepard Fairey: Inspiration Or Infringement? NPR, February 26, 2009
• Example/Selected Artworks By Shepard Fairey
• Short Film of Shepard Fairey Working In His Studio (Watch)

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