LA based street artist Shepard Fairey (1970) graduated from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. Frequenting the skateboarding scene as a youngster, he used his professional stenciling skills on clothing and skateboards designs.
The contemporary artist relates to the authentic aspects of hip hop culture and freedom of speech.
This man's clearly driven by street art imagery in all its forms( posters, stencil art, collage, screen printing, wheat pasting, ...), using his talent to criticize socio political situations such as war, materialism or propaganda in a witty, emotive and slightly commercial way.
His Andre the Giant (Has a Posse) stencils and stickers started out as an inside joke. The wrestler's unique and goofy face was transformed to a simple black and white image which was distributed in cities all over the US. Later on he added the word OBEY to the popular image with the purpose of making people question authority. "Andre the Giant has a Posse" is also the title of a documentary made by Helen Stickler .
Guerrilla artists Fairey, Robbie Conal and Mear One collaborated on the Be the Revolution(2004, anti-Bush) street art campaign. In the same year Roger Gastman and Fairey founded pop culture and lifestyle Swindle magazine.
Furthermore the illustrator founded Studio number one, a creative agency which designs album covers, clothing and movie posters, a reliable income for Fairey's family.
The graphic designer gained fame when he created the iconic style Obama Hope poster (2008) and stickers during the US presidential campaign. The red and blue Andy Warhol 's style resembling piece was based on a photograph by Mannie Garcia(Associated Press), leading to copyright infringement claims. Recurring subjects under discussion concerning art in public spaces are illegitimacy, fair use and derivatives.
Thanks to this massive exposure and the caused commotion, Fairey's work has already been shown in solo gallery exhibitions and at the LACMA, MOMA NY, ICA Boston, MCA San Diego, National Portrait Gallery Washington DC and at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Remaining loyal to urban culture, Fairey performs on stage as DJ Diabetic and MC Insulin. He even collaborated with DJ Shadow. Banksy's film Exit Through the Gift shop, an inside story of street art, contains footage of Fairey, Ron English, Space Invader, Swoon among others.
Despite long- winded art critic disputes about the originality and value of his versatile creations, this reporter of peace has become a street art symbol as well as an asset in contemporary art. Two of a trade never agree.
Article written by Ann Timmermans
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