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Shepard Fairey
-From Punk rock skateboarder to world renowned artist.
Shepard’s humble beginnings…
Frank Shepard Fairey was born in
Charleston, South Carolina on
February 15, 1970. Fairey began
to develop an interest in art in
1984. First, putting his designs on
Skateboards and T-shirts. Fairey
graduated with a Bachelors
degree of fine arts in illustration
in 1992. Fairey began his climb to
notoriety by creating the “Andre
the Giant has a Posse” sticker
campaign. This campaign later
evolved in to the Obey
movement.
The ArtistShepard Fairey is a contemporary artist, graphic
designer, and illustrator. Fairey does not limit
himself to graphic design and print work. He has
used other mediums such as paint on canvas,
wood, metal, and Rubylith. He also creates stickers.
Fairey has created over 500 different prints. The
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston calls him one
of today's best known and most influential street
artists.
From “Street Art” to more commercial
endeavors…..
Along with this successful graphic designing care. Fairey
is also DJ's at many clubs under the name DJ Diabetic and
Emcee Insulin, in reference to his diabetic condition.
Fairey was a founding partner, along with Dave Kinsey
and Phillip DeWolff, of the design studio BLK/MRKT Inc.
from 1997-2003. With Clients including Pepsi, Hasbro,
Mozilla, and Netscpae. In 2003 he founded the Studio
Number One design agency with his wife Amanda Fairey.
The agency produced the cover for The black eyed Peas
“Monkey Business” and the poster for the movie “Walk
the Line.” Fairey has also designed the covers for The
Smashing Pumkins’ album “Zeitgeist”, Flogging Molly’s
CD/DVD “Whiskey on a Sunday,” the Led Zepplelin
compilation “Mothersip” and Anthrax’s “The Greater Of
two Evils.”
Politically Conscious art works
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.” For the 2008
election fairy produced a series
of poster, including the iconic
Hope print. Fairey distributed
300,000 stickers and 500,000
posters during the campaign.
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.
“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.” -- Barack Obama, February 22, 2008
Critics Fairey has come under criticism for appropriating
others' artwork into his own while failing to
provide attribution for the work used. In 2009, it
was revealed that the HOPE poster was based on
a copyrighted photograph taken in April 2006 by
Mannie Garcia while on assignment for the
Associated Press. Erick Lyle has accused Fairey
of cynically turning graffiti culture into a self-
promoting ad campaign. Bloggers have criticized
Fairey for accepting commissions from
corporations such as Saks Fifth Avenue.