American designer and artist Shepard Fairey is widely known for his pop art work. We can safely say that today he is no less popular than the famous Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein. Fairy broke into the world of contemporary art very quickly and swiftly and impressed everyone with his bright, piercing, screaming works at the top of his voice. He caused numerous discussions in creative circles, heated debates that still do not subside. Today, this artist's customers and clients are large media empires and corporations, famous musicians and well-known politicians.
Most famous work
The most popular Shepard Fairey poster is called Hope, that is, "Hope", it was dedicated at one time to Barack Obama, the future US president. The artist managed to become a part of political history, and his career actively went uphill. During the Obama campaign in 2008, Fairey was doing his famous work, he hesitated for a long time, as there were several different options for the name. After much deliberation, the artist chose "Hope" and was not mistaken.
The poster not only influenced the mood of the majority of voters, but also glorified its creator. The Fairey poster was a real icon for supporters of the future President Obama - it was reproduced on numerous posters, on T-shirts, made badges and stickers, posted on Internet sites and in public places. The artist received a personal thanks for this poster from Obama. The idea of "Hope" was used later, during the creation of political posters after the elections.
Shepard Fae - Obey
So, a little-known artist who creates unpretentious prints, which then flaunted on the T-shirts of his friends, suddenly became rich and famous. After the success of "Hope" he began to receive orders for the design of records of musical groups, actively exhibited his work at opening days. Two paintings by Fairy, made in the style of pop art, became a stylization of already promoted and popular images of mass media. The first of them appeared in 1986 (in two versions at once). It was a portrait of a wrestler from France Andre Rusimov. On the poster, under the portrait, there was the inscription GIANT - HAS - A - POSSE, which, translated into Russian, reads: "The Giant also has a crowd."
On another version of the poster, this phrase was significantly reduced, and turned into one word OBEY, which means “obey” in translation. This decision was associated with the film "They Live Among Us", and it also worked. Subsequently, the word turned into a creative pseudonym for the designer Fairy. The Shepard Fairey OBEY poster has become a real classic, it was distributed not only as a poster, but also as a sticker.
Shepard Fae's guns and roses
In the future, the artist demonstrated with his works that he is far from being indifferent to everything in this world. Shepard Fairey's paintings, such as Guns and Roses, bring his positive thoughts to humanity. The artist demonstrates his attitude towards violence, this is the position of a pacifist who united the idea and art.
The artist posted his works near the Metropol Hotel in Cincinnati, a modern center of machine tool and mechanical engineering, it is here that aircraft engines and rockets are produced. The most famous was his painting "Guards of the World", this is the fourth creation of Shepard, which was exhibited at the center of contemporary art.
Fairy is actively engaged in decorative art painting on the walls of houses, struggling with dullness and routine. His works are fundamentally different from the now fashionable graffiti in their imaginative approach, depth of idea and originality.
Fae and the Earth Crisis
The latest climate conference in Paris was another demonstration of the artist's versatile talent. Between the two floors (first and second) of the Eiffel Tower, he placed a huge ball. The original installation was called "Earth Crisis".
Fairy has constantly expressed his attitude about the difficult environmental situation in the world. "I am constantly driven by fear and concern about what the quality of life of the next generations will be like. I am far from an alarmist, but I believe that people should understand today that we are facing an Earth crisis ", - the artist said before the event to discuss climate problems.
Posters for a human rights organization
Shepard Fairey's poster for a human rights organization was based on a photograph by Russian war photographer Yuri Kozyrev, and it immediately became very popular. The artist himself said about this work that it symbolizes courage, vigilance and determination, the desire to achieve peace and positive change.
In his desire to be always understandable to ordinary, ordinary people, Fairy began to engage not only in the creation, but also in the wide distribution of free stickers and various posters, in which he caustically sneers at the shortcomings of power and society, while appealing to the manifestation of kindness and humanity.
Fae and Donald Trump
By the date of the inauguration of current President Donald Trump, the artist presented new works called We the People. On them, instead of President Trump, three different posters depict a Hispanic woman, a Muslim woman, and an African American woman. The artist explains that they represent the entire people of multinational America. The campaign, Fairey said, was meant to focus on populations that Trump had offended during his presidential campaign. These posters were handed out for free on the Washington metro.
The popularity of the artist could not but cause a negative reaction in certain circles. The use of famous or traditional images in posters and paintings has led to serious controversy due to copyright infringement. A very strong and loud scandal occurred due to the lawsuit of Fairey and the publication of the Associated Press due to the use by the artist in his work of a photo that belonged to this agency.
One way or another, the modern American designer is still popular, has a lot of fans. He is not only versatile, but also a very fashionable, talented designer. Permanent exhibitions in galleries in America and Europe cause a huge stir, and the work of Shepard Fairey has long been included in the collections of major museums in Britain and America.
Everything you need to know about Shepard Fae
TEXT: Marina Antsiperova
Until November 4, MMOMA, with the support of the RuArts Foundation, is hosting an exhibition of Shepard Fairey, a street artist, designer of the OBEY brand and author of the viral graffiti of the same name. His most famous works created over the past 25 years will be presented. And besides, Fairey will come personally and paint one of the Moscow facades. We conduct a brief educational program for those who do not know who we are talking about.
Who drew the unspoken symbol of Barack Obama's first campaign and then designed the covers of Time? Who came up with the OBEY clothing brand? Who is the author of the most famous Smashing Pumpkins cover? What kind of street artist voiced one of the episodes of The Simpsons? Well, the simplest question - which artist became famous by sticking stickers with Andre the Giant on the streets of the city?
In fact, all this was done by one person, and his name is Shepard Fae. You've probably seen his work, even if you can't remember his name - the same image of Obama has become as much an integral part of pop culture as, for example, Warhol's soup.
It all started with an OBEY sticker: a student at the Rhode Island School of Design was teaching a friend how to make graffiti stencils, and by a stroke of luck, a picture of Andre Rene Rusimov (2.24 m, 236 kg), a French wrestler and actor of Polish origin, better known as nicknamed Andre the Giant. At first, the picture had the slogan Andre the Giant Has a Posse (“The Giant Andre has a crowd”), and then under the influence of various circumstances, including the age-old copyright problem, it turned into a street art campaign called Obey Giant ( "Obey the Giant")
The image was captured precisely and aptly: irony over propaganda campaigns, criticism of a totalitarian society, mockery of how easily and without further questions information is taken for granted. Giant stickers began to appear on California streets in huge numbers, Shepard was repeatedly arrested - and the campaign had a stunning response. In the early 1990s, tens of thousands of Giants were already posted around the world. And at Sundance in 1997, Helen Stickler's film Andre the Giant Has a Posse was shown - and it became a cult in the world of subcultures.
Further more. The OBEY brand, a hybrid of workwear, military uniforms and favorite paraphernalia of street culture, was born in 2001 - as another "media" through which Shepard began to broadcast his ideas. In 2003, he and his wife Amanda Fairey opened Studio Number One. Among his most famous works of those years are the poster of the Johnny Cash movie Walk the Line (2005), the covers of the albums Monkey Business The Black Eyed Peas (2005) and Zeitgeist Smashing Pumpkins (2007) - and much more, for example, promo for Earth Hour, projects for Pepsi, Nike and other corporations that Shepard, for obvious reasons, considers ethical.
But still, Fairey's most famous work is the campaign in support of Obama. Not a single street artist before him so clearly bent the line of love or dislike for individual candidates: the same Banksy painted a green mohawk for Churchill or parodied the royal family, but it is impossible to imagine him involved in direct campaigning. Shepard, in the best traditions of the Soviet propaganda he hated, offered to vote against Bush and Trump - and for Barack Obama. Now the news agency Associated Press has filed a lawsuit against Fairey - the basis of the poster was a photograph of the agency, which he used illegally. He was sentenced to 300 hours of community service - and a fine of $ 25,000. I must say, he often steals images in general - and does it without a shadow of embarrassment.
The most deceitful thing about Fae's behavior is that it is based on grandiose theories about aesthetics and political philosophy, but I'm afraid that the only motivation for his art is the desire for fame and fortune. For some reason, some mistake Faery for a progressive political activist - he himself, no doubt, encourages this delusion. However, Fairey's work can be seen reflecting right-wing views, as they are often based on the theft of communist images, and the author himself laughs at the audience and hurries to the bank for another money transfer.
I don't care about Fae's political views, I care that his work sets a tone that harms art and leads to its decay.
Left: Unknown author, "Political Power Comes from the Muzzle of a Rifle." Chinese poster from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1968. The slogan on the poster is a famous saying by Mao Zedong.
On right: Fae stole a Chinese poster and named it "Gun and Roses". The main part of the poster was scanned, then Fairy (or his assistants) added a background, placed finished images of roses in the barrels of guns and released the work in 2006, passing it off as his own.
If you do not take into account the ostentatious leftism of Fae, it becomes obvious that he has no political convictions - he is just an apolitical black hole. Perhaps someone will be very surprised by the following example of plagiarism. He demonstrates the complete ignorance of the Fae in matters of history: for him, she is just a source of pictures that can be stolen. In addition, this example should clearly show that a person who knows nothing about history should not be at the forefront of political art.
SS emblem on an Obey T-shirt
In 2006, Fairey printed a copy of someone else's work that featured a skull and crossbones, adding only the slogan "Obey. Defiant since 89” (Obey. Defiant since 89) and an asterisk with the face of Andre the Giant. T-shirts with this image were included in the Obey clothing collection.
Ironically, Wal-Mart American company, the world's largest retail chain - approx. per.) stole a design from a plagiarism master and released her own t-shirts with it. One of the buyers recognized the image and made a scandal, as this skull and crossbones is an exact copy of the infamous emblem of one of the SS units of Nazi Germany, which, among other things, was engaged in the protection of concentration camps.
Not surprisingly, Wal-Mart T-shirts caused a scandal: a huge number of angry citizens demanded that Wal-Mart apologize and remove skull and crossbones T-shirts from sale - in the end, Wal-Mart gave in.
Skull and bones on a T-shirt for clothing brand Fae Obey.
“In this design, I used a biker logo. I found out that this is the emblem of the SS much later.
When it became known that Fae had originally produced the T-shirts with this image, the Consumerist website demanded an explanation from him. In response to criticism, Fairey said, “I used a biker logo in this design. I found out that this is the emblem of the SS much later.
First, Fairey openly admits that he copied someone else's work (calling it, however, "used"). Second, he feigns innocence when told about the horrific history of the Nazi emblem. Fae insists that he is an anti-fascist and peace advocate, but how can an anti-fascist not recognize the symbols used by the Nazis? The Fae's only excuse is sheer ignorance. But this is not the best characteristic for an artist who is allegedly interested in social problems and politics.
Viennese Art Nouveau
Left: Koloman Moser, Ver Sacrum ( lat. "Sacred spring"). Cover of a magazine of a group of Viennese artists (Vienna Secession) titled Ver Sacrum, 1901
On right: Fae poster of Moser's stolen work.
Many of Fae's posters show Art Nouveau borders and swirls, and there was no doubt in my mind that he didn't draw them. And here is the most obvious example - the theft of the work of the Austrian artist Koloman Moser (Koloman Moser, 1868-1918) - one of the main representatives of the Vienna Secession, better known as the Viennese version of Art Nouveau.
Moser was not only a talented artist, but also a graphic designer who worked on everything from architecture and furniture to ceramics and jewelry. In 1901, Moser made the cover for the magazine Ver Sacrum, which was published from 1898 to 1903 and featured illustrations by the main artists of Viennese Art Nouveau.
No doubt Fairey saw the cover of Ver Sacrum and circled it: he circled it so precisely that if you superimposed one image on another and looked at the light, all the lines would match. Fairey complemented Moser's work with a clumsy frame, a small portrait of André the Giant, the slogan "Obey Propaganda" and called his poster "Fashion Black" (Nouveau Black). Naturally, Fairey did not mention the name of the author of the work, Koloman Moser.
Prague Spring
When the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Alexander Dubchik, began a series of reforms in 1968, the USSR was frightened of the counter-revolution and insisted on bringing the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries into Prague to suppress the Prague Spring.
However, Fae doesn't care about history: he can strip an image of its historical significance faster than you can say "Czechoslovak Socialist Republic." In the early days of the Soviet occupation, Czech patriots put up posters all over Prague. The brave Czech artist depicted the Red Army as liberators in 1945 and simultaneously as occupiers in 1968. Fae stole this poster and released it as his own, with a portrait of Andre the Giant and the words "Make Art, Not War" on it.
Fairies don't care about history: they can strip an image of its historical significance faster than you can say "Czechoslovak Socialist Republic."
Needless to say, Fae never mentioned the Czech poster he stole from. Since the Prague Spring posters are mostly known only in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Fairey still calmly calls this work, like many others, his own.
One big union
Left: Ralph "Bingo" Chaplin, "One Big (Trade) Union", 1917. Artwork created for the Industrial Workers of the World.
On right: T-shirt graphics for clothing brand Obey.
Shepard Fairey stole the work "One Big Union" (One Big Union), created in 1917 by Ralph "Bingo" Chaplin (Ralph "Bingo" Chaplin) and of great historical significance. The American Chaplin was an adamant social activist and supporter of the labor movement. He fought for the trade union movement and the rights of workers in the early twentieth century - at a time when they were imprisoned and killed for this.
Chaplin's contribution to the history of the labor movement and to American history can, without exaggeration, be called enormous, but this did not stop Fairey from stealing his work. He made an exact copy of Chaplin's illustration "One big (trade) union", "putting" a lightning bolt into his clenched fist and adding the words "Obey Propaganda" (ObeyPropaganda). This image was printed on T-shirts and included in the Obey clothing collection, which brings a lot of income to the Fae. Naturally, Fairey never mentioned Chaplin and never even thought to draw people's attention to his biography and his era.
black panthers
Fairey simply copied the Mederos poster in every detail, printed it on the T-shirts of the Obey clothing collection and sold it under the name "Cuban Rider" (Cuban Rider). Fairey never mentioned René Mederos anywhere. After seeing clothes with a stolen Mederos poster on Bombing Science, which sells Obey products, Cushing wrote the following letter to them:
Chris Broders, Faery's business partner for Obey's brands, responded to Cushing by admitting that the company had infringed intellectual property rights and promising that the T-shirts would be taken off the market and never made again. Indeed, if you go to the Bombing Science website, you will see that this T-shirt is no longer for sale there. In mid-August 2007, Cushing was contacted by Fairey Accounting and asked where he could send a check for a percentage of sales due to rights holders of Mederos' work. Since the T-shirts were discontinued and no longer sold, the plagiarism story has not yet been widely publicized. Fae has never publicly admitted to stealing the image from Mederos' poster, and naturally has never apologized for it. But the story didn't end there.
Free Angela Davis
Left: Felix Beltrán, Libertad para Angela Davis. Cuba, 1971 Beltran created this poster in support of Angela Davis while she was a political prisoner in the United States.
On right: A stolen version turned by the Fae into a street poster that does not mention either Beltran or Angela Davis.
Not satisfied with the platiat of René Mederos's work, Fairy stole the work of another well-known Cuban artist: Félix Beltrán. Fae's street poster, which features famed 1960s American human rights activist Angela Davis, is actually a replica of the famous Beltran poster. Lincoln Cushing remarked that Fairey's poster is a copy of Beltran's "Free Angela Davis", created in 1971. Fairey did not mention the name of the Cuban artist, who now lives in Mexico. In addition, it is this work that raises the following question: Is Fairey mocking the icons of the left movement or glorifying them?
White Panthers and Gary Grimshaw
In 1968, Grimshaw created an image of a white winged panther, which became the emblem of the White Panther Party ( White Panther Party, WPP - a left-wing anti-racist organization that acted under the slogan: "Sex, drugs and rock and roll" - approx. ed.). Inspired and modeled after the Black Panthers, the White Panthers were made up of Detroit hippie activists led by the poet John Sinclair. They wanted their organization's emblem to reflect the goals of the Black Panthers, and Grimshaw created a variation of the Black Panther Party's logo, a white panther with wings. This symbolism was perceived as an instrument of political struggle and was never aimed at making a profit.
The emblem of the Black Panther Party was an adaptation of the symbols used by the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, the first civil rights organization in Alabama. The winged panther Grimshaw also became the logo of MC5, a rock band that worked closely with the White Panthers and spread the idea of youth protest. In 1968, at the US Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the group gave a legendary concert in Lincoln Park: they performed in front of five thousand protesters against the war (in Vietnam) right before the police attacked the crowd: batons and teardrops were used gas.
Gary Grimshaw, a 1960s psychedelic poster artist, created stunning concert posters for The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Cream, and more. His work set the bar for posters and posters of the counterculture of the time.
Gary Grimshaw, poster for the MC5's San Francisco performance, 1969
In 1969, John Sinclair was arrested, tried, and sentenced to ten years in prison for selling marijuana to an undercover police agent. An international movement for the release of Sinclair appeared, and in December 1971, in the American city of Ann Arbor, a huge concert called "Freedom to John Sinclair" (John Sinclair Freedom Rally) was held, at which John Lennon spoke on behalf of the imprisoned leader of the "white panthers" , Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger (Bob Seger), Phil Ochs (Phil Ochs) and other musicians. Gary Grimshaw created the legendary poster for this event. Two days after the concert, the Michigan Supreme Court released Sinclair from prison and overturned his conviction.
Shepard Fairey saw the Grimshaw emblem with a winged panther and, without informing the author or obtaining his consent, copied the image for his clothing brand Obey. The stolen image was printed on T-shirts, jackets, jeans and caps, including the word Obey in the design.
First, Angela Davis was a member of the Communist Party USA, not the Black Panther Party. But let's not quibble over historical facts. By saying that he was attacked for "using the MC5 emblem with a white panther," Fae admitted to plagiarism. And the words “I wish everyone would attack me like she did” apparently refer to other cases of plagiarism described in this article.
I knew that Gary Grimshaw had created the emblem, and I found his website on the Internet - apparently, it is so troublesome and complicated that neither Faery nor his assistants bothered to do it. The site collects work created by Grimshaw over several decades, and his psychedelic posters and posters are well-known examples of the psychedelic genre. After writing to Grimshaw about Fae plagiarism, I asked him what he thought about it. Here is an excerpt from his letter:
“The image of the panther was created by Emory Douglas, the Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers. I remade it into the emblem of the "white panthers". The image is in the public domain, as intended. It's an image that people can identify with, that they can rally around, so it shouldn't be copyrighted or proprietary. It was created exactly in this vein. Commercial use of this image is not, strictly speaking, a crime, since it is in the public domain, but such use reeks of vileness, which this image was just supposed to resist. I hope that Michael Davies, who calls this image "our (i.e. MC5's) symbol", will remember that shortly after the winged panther first appeared in print on a poster I made for their concert at the Straight Theater in San Francisco in 1969, members of the MC5 group publicly stated that they had no connection with the White Panther Party; it happened just as the party was fighting to get its chairman, John Sinclair, released from prison, and to keep three other members of the party's Central Committee (including myself) who had an arrest warrant out of prison.
Fae poster "Greetings from Iraq", printed in 2005
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration in 1935 during his New Deal. During the Great Depression, many Americans lost their jobs, land, and livelihoods, and the Public Works Administration made it possible for them to find work. Federal Art Project (Federal Art Project) - part of the Office - in 1935-1943. engaged in everything related to art: they provided work for artists, writers, actors and musicians and financed various projects. During its existence, the Federal Art Project has employed more than five thousand people of creative professions.
The project is remembered for subsidizing wall paintings throughout the country; thanks to him, more than thirty-five thousand posters and posters were also printed. Various departments were created that created posters in different styles and using different techniques: silk-screen printing, wood carving, linocut and lithography. The posters featured artists on topics ranging from healthcare and literacy to labor and military production. Several artists created posters that praised the beauty of America's National Parks and encouraged people to travel through them. One such poster, titled Ranger Naturalist Service: Yellowstone National Park, served as Fae material.
Fortune 500 ( list of the five hundred largest US companies according to Fortune magazine - approx. ed.). Of course, Fairey talked about the "vicious alliance between government and big business."
Some Shepard Fairey supporters like to quote Pablo Picasso's misunderstood words: "Good artists copy, great artists steal." In addition to the fact that it is ridiculous to compare Fairy with Picasso, most likely, Picasso had in mind the “stealing” of decorative elements, which the great masters were engaged in, and not the complete copying of other people's works, which are then signed with their own name.
The final argument of Fae's defenders is that they admit that he "borrows" the work of other artists, both dead and living, but they claim that all images are in the public domain, so the artists' rights are not violated.
There are those who believe that artists have the right to change existing works of art and thus create new works or make current statements. With some reservations, I generally agree with this point of view, but on the condition that borrowings are not hidden. However, it infuriates me that someone can make a career out of copying the work of other artists in secret all the time. Faeries use the work of others without permission all the time. Perhaps a couple of such cases are forgivable, especially if the works are not used for commercial purposes, but Fae has turned the constant stealing and copying of other people's works into his main source of income.
Today, the theft and misuse of other people's images in the art world has reached unprecedented proportions, and soon the constant "undermining" and distortion of history will do great harm to art, making it empty and meaningless. By "undermining" I mean the superficial and thoughtless use of information related to our common past by people who do not understand history. This is exactly what Fairey is guilty of: he uses historical images simply because he “likes” them, and not at all because he understands their significance for history and art. If you carefully study the rebellious touch and pseudo-oppositional art of Shepard Fae, it turns out that there is no political imagination in it.
On the opening day, more than 10 works were sold in just one hour: even budget-conscious visitors wanted to buy something in memory of Shepard - at least a catalog for € 19 with a detailed biography of the artist and photographs of his work.
According to eyewitnesses, there was a stir at the exhibition, the owner of the gallery did not hide his triumphant smile, and the number of visitors exceeded reasonable limits and caused an inevitable crush near the works.
Exhibition director Luisa Montalto spoke about why the first Fairy exhibition of this kind was held in Rome.
Who owned the works presented at the exhibition?
All exhibits are the property of an Italian collector who wishes to remain anonymous. He holds a high position in a large company. The curators of the exhibition are Dario Morgante and Christiano Armati, the owners of the gallery. The idea of such an exhibition was in the air, because Fairy is indeed one of the most influential artists of the millennium.
Was the artist himself directly involved in organizing the exhibition?
Yes, at the initial stage, but then he decided not to interfere - even though Fairy is grateful to us for the work done and contribution to the development of the secondary market for art objects, and despite the fact that this is his first exhibition in Italy, he prefers participate in more institutional processes - for example, major museum exhibitions.
How many people have already visited the exhibition and how many works have been sold?
About 1000 people came to the opening. We are a rather small gallery - we have never had such a large-scale opening before. About 3,000 people visited the exhibition in the first week, and this is an absolutely crazy number for us. Not only people living in Rome are interested in the exposition, people come to us from Milan, Bologna and other small towns. Show interest curators and collectors - mostly French and Americans.
Was there anything unusual at the opening of the exhibition?
The guard at the entrance did not let people inside with drinks. As a result, we counted 140 bottles of wine on the street.
What is happening in Italian street art now? How many indoor street art exhibitions do you have?
Italy is a very fertile ground for the development of street art. In Milan there are at least three galleries that specialize in street art, in Rome it's just us, Mondo Bizzarro Gallery. We work with such pioneers of the movement as Sten and Lex, Lucamaleonte, Mr Uany, Ozmo, Eron, etc. In May we open a group exhibition of artists (Mr Uany, Jb Rock and Eron), next year we want to make a big exhibition "Italian street Art” with the participation of more than 30 artists.
"I've always loved Obey's work, but to me he's more of a graphic designer than a street artist," says
Fairey's most famous designs are the "Hope" poster, designed in 2008 during the election of US President Barack Obama, and a portrait of French wrestler Andre Rusimov, made in 1986. In February 2008, Fairey received a letter from Obama thanking him for his work.
But the idea of a sticker with a wrestler came about by accident: “A year in 1989, I was explaining to a friend how to make a stencil, and I accidentally stumbled upon a photo with a wrestler. I told him that he should make a stencil out of this, to which the friend laughed and said that it was completely stupid. I found this idea to be funny. At that time, my friends and I called each other The Posse (crowd, party, - a word borrowed from the hip-hop slang of Public Enemy, NWA and Ice-T). So I made a couple of those stickers with the original version of GIANT HAS A POSSE."
“I would like to express my gratitude for your talent and support of my election campaign. The political posters used in your work have given confidence to the American people. I am grateful for the privilege of being part of your art work." Barack Obama
Later, the inscription OBEY (obey) appeared on the sticker: Fairy was inspired by John Carpenter's film They Live, where the main character finds sunglasses that allow you to see a hidden message on advertising posters - for example, the slogan "Buy a ticket to the Caribbean" contains calls "Obey", " Consume”, “Marry and multiply”.
In addition to the sensational posters, Fairey is engaged in the design of covers for music records (Black Eyed Peas, The Smashing Pumpkins, DJ Shadow, Flogging Molly, Led Zeppelin, Will.I.Am, Anthrax, Interpol, Johnny Cash), films, as well as the design of logos, T-shirts , stickers. Shepard is known for his "visual statements" against the Bush regime (the Be the Revolution series), as well as the artwork for the music album "War: The Music That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran" and other social and political art.
Shepard Fairey is a truly versatile, lively, talented and trendy street artist. He has repeatedly exhibited in American and European galleries, his works are included in the collection of a number of museums and art institutions in the United States and Great Britain. Fairey was one of the managing partners of guerrilla marketing design studio BLK/MRKT, with clients including Pepsi, Hasbro and Netscape. In 2003, together with his wife, he opened a design agency. In 2009, he was arrested on his way to the premiere of his show at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston for sticking posters.
Today, Shepard Fairey is known as the brightest representative of pop art, a creative artist, and he burst into the world of art with bright and “talking” paintings and immediately caused a lot of controversy around him, which has not subsided to this day. The artist works under the pseudonym Obey, which means “obey”, “obey”, and all his work seems to ask you to listen to the world and peer into the surrounding realities. But skeptical critics are trying to convict the artist of deceit. Who is he: a master of plagiarism or an art revolutionary?
Biography
Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston (USA) in the family of an ordinary doctor. But already from childhood, he showed the abilities of a not quite ordinary child. He was fond of punk rock and DIY art (which means "do it yourself"). He made his first creative steps by painting the clothes and skateboards of his friends, having already "armed himself" with a well-known pseudonym.
At 22, Shepard has a fine arts class from the Rhode Island School of Design and several career paths. and music became the first rung of the artist's career ladder. After some time, Shepard's work is exhibited in Boston and immediately makes an impression. The designer is associated with three pop and public art.
In 2003, Fairey opened his own design agency. Today, his work is included in the collections of several museums, art institutes in the US and UK.
Several times the artist was arrested for painting graffiti in public places and putting up advertising posters.
Creation
As an artist, Shepard Fairey has always been distinguished by his ability to react vividly and in an original way to what is happening in the world. His paintings are a reflection of ideological, religious, political and environmental issues. World fame came to the artist in 2008 with a poster for the election campaign of Barack Obama. The creation received the symbolic name Hope (or "Hope"), which largely influenced the course of the elections.
Shepard Fairey immediately formed a unique creative style. His paintings are recognizable, reminiscent of Soviet posters in their color palette and style. According to the artist himself, creativity and
commercial design
For some time after graduating from design school, Fairey worked in a print shop and produced stickers, decals, posters, and promotional t-shirts. Later, he switched to "guerrilla" marketing and realized himself in large projects of Adidas and Pepsi. It is Fairy who owns the logo of the Mozilla Foundation, the creator of the Firefox browser. Also significant is the designer's collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas and Smashing Pumkins bands, which he designed for
According to Fairey himself, the choice of products for advertising is carried out by him primarily from moral positions, and not commercial ones.
Graffiti
Least of all for colleagues and connoisseurs of art, Shepard Fairey showed himself in street art. However, his work in this direction also attracts attention. Graffiti artists say that Fairey skillfully and actively exploits popular social topics, but this does not make him a master of street art. Obey's graffiti-style work is more of a "guerilla" marketing or advertisement, which, of course, is far from street art. Simply put, they are not connected with the street, the interaction of space and people. Despite such an assessment, Shepard Fairey often arranges exhibitions in galleries in Europe and the USA and always receives a warm welcome and attention to his work.
Criticism
On the creative path of Shepard, Fairey has always been restless and exciting. There are skeptical critics who are looking for and seem to find evidence of plagiarism in the artist's work. Art historian Lincoln Cushing and artist Josh McPhee are among them. Their doubts are caused by the style and forms that Shepard Fae uses. His paintings, like photocopies, have neither clear lines nor strokes. Yes, and the images used by the artist are beaten and familiar to everyone.
Any representative of art, one way or another, falls under the influence of predecessors. He adopts, rethinks, transforms and forms his own unique style. According to critics, Shepard only copies other people's work with minor changes and stylization and passes it off as his own. So, the scandal surrounding Shepard's work dedicated to the wrestling star is often remembered. After WWE threatened the artist with a lawsuit, accusing him of using a registered mark, Fairy changed the wrestler's portrait and slogan to Obey. It is noteworthy that one of Andre the Giant's compositions is similar to Dmitry Moor's Soviet poster "Registered as a volunteer?".
Fae's most famous work, Hope, was also the cause of the lawsuit. Then the Associated Press accused the artist of using a 2006 image of Obama commissioned by the agency.
P.S.
The work of Shepard Fairey brings the designer profit and fame, accusations and arrests. But the Rhode Island School of Design can still be proud of its graduate. After all, despite all the suspicions and claims from the authorities and critics, Fairy was and remains a versatile, lively and fashionable artist. His works, if not turned the world upside down, then influenced the "public discourse".
