Shepard FAIREY (1970) OBEY - Lot 14

Shepard FAIREY (1970) OBEY Obey factory. Screen-printed skateboard. 79 x 20.5 cm. Hand-signed. Note: Shepard Fairey aka Obey was born in 1970 in Charleston, USA. He plunged into the world of graphic design at the age of 14, drawing images to be flocked onto t-shirts and skateboards. Influenced by the work of Andy Warhol and Russian artist Alexander Rodchenko, he naturally went on to study art. Thus, in the late 1980s, Obey and a group of friends from the Rhode Island School of Design created a series of stickers and posters based on the figure of wrestler André the Giant, which they clandestinely pasted by the thousands on the walls of American cities. This was one of the first and most important "viral" Street Art campaigns, demonstrating the striking power of this new form of clandestine expression. His work received worldwide recognition during the 2008 American presidential campaign, when he created Barack Obama's HOPE poster, which became an iconic image of the campaign. The President personally thanked him for the influence his poster had during the presidential elections. The Boston Institute of Contemporary Art considers him one of the best and most influential street artists of the moment. However, while he is one of the pioneers of street art, his work is considered by the law to be an infringement of artistic property. During some of his setbacks with the law, this has not prevented his exhibitions in various museums from doubling in attendance. Today, Shepard Fairey continues to use art as a medium to engage with current social and political issues. In 2022, in collaboration with the Department of Art and Culture in Munich, he completed a 100-meter mural encouraging the use of renewable, less-polluting energies.