Shepard Fairey, Research Paper Example

Throughout the course of the United States 2008 Democratic primary and the proceeding Presidential election, there was a popular photograph that emerged dawned on the covers of t-shirts, billboards, posters and other locations throughout the country and in many cases throughout the world. This was an altered photograph of the presidential candidate Barack Obama designed by American artist Frank Shepard Fairey. Born February 15, 1970, Fairey established himself as a well known street artist through graphic design activism within skater culture, specifically through his “Anre the Giant Has a Posse” (OBEY) ads for the Weekly World News. According to Shelley Rosenfeld, the photo became the topic of a notorious legal dispute that spanned well beyond the length of the actual election. The battle was over whether or not Shepard Fairey had violated copyright law. If anything the controversy over the photograph, which was eye catching enough without the added publicity substantially influenced Barack Obama’s appeal with young voters and could have possibly been a pivotal factor in his victory. Farey’s art has been included in a variety of collections at museums like The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Smithsonian, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The following will take a deeper look at Frank Shepard Fairey, his work and how it resulted in his rise to notoriety and success reaching beyond just the realm of street art.

Background

Shepard Fairey traces his upbringing to Charleston, South Carolina. The son of Dr. Strait Fairey, and his motherther Charlotte a realtor, Shepard Fairey decided to stray from his family traditions is a doctor, and his mother, Charlotte, a realtor. Fairey involvement with art started in 1984, when the artist started placing his artwork on t-shirts and distributing them throughout the skater community by printing them on skateboards. In 1988, Fairey graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, and then followed up his education in the arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1992. Fairey’s first exhibition of his artwork was in 2009 at the museum for the Boston Institute of Contemporary art. The exhibition was titled Supply & Demand, and featured over 250 works presented in numerous ways such as stencil, collages, illustrations, metal, screen prints and canvas work.  As a side promotion of the exhibition event, Fairey produced artwork which was displayed around the streets of Boston for public appreciation. Fairey’s reputation in the street art community has garnered him further accolades in regards to the support of the community. One prime example of one of this social positions can be seen with his appointment to the advisory board for Reaching to Embrace the Arts. This is a non-profit organization which enables art suppliers to assist low income school systems to ensure students are exposed to the arts. In May 2006, Fairey was appointed as a board member to the Music Is Revolution Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization established to assist students in public school are programs find their path.

Fairey attributes his artistic philosophy to the teachings of Heidegger and his views on phenomenology, and he attributes his “Obey” Campaign to the John Carpenter movie “They Live” starring pro wrestler Roddy Piper, from where he took many slogans such as “Obey” and e “This is Your God.” From these connections Fairey made the slogan popular and was able to spin the popularity of his artwork of an OBEY clothing line. Finally, “The Medium is the Message” is a popular slogan utilized within his artwork, one that was taken from Marshall McLuhan. Fairey is also known to adapt work of other street artists into his own work. After Fairey graduated from art school, he launched a small printing firm in Providence, Rhode Island, which he founded under the name of Alternate Graphics. The company produced T-shirts and silkscreen stickers and would eventually serve as a major supplier to his clothing line. This business brought in enough revenue for Farey to continue on the path towards pursuing his own artistic ideas and concepts. During his time in Providence, Rhode Island in 1994, Fairey became acquainted with Helen Stickler, an American filmmaker, and former graduate of his alma mater.  Following this period, Stickler produced the documentary film “Andre the Giant has a Posse,” a documentary film covering Shepard and his rise to notoriety among street art aficionados.  The film, which debuted at the New York Underground Film Festival on 1995 added to Farey’s cult following and would go on to be released in the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, as well as a large number of festivals and museums internationally. The success of the film and the buzz it built for Farey’s side projects as well as his artwork enabled him to partner with Philip DeWolff and Dave Kinsey to form the design studio BLK/MRKT Inc. The company which prided itself in producing high impact marketing campaigns, operated from 1997 until 2003. Some of the company’s notable clients included Hasbro, Pepsi, and Netscape. In addition to designing the dragon logo for the search engine Mozilla during this time, Fairey was also able to get his OBEY Giant clothing line to sold in Nordstrom clothing branches. In 2003, Fairey teamed up with his wife to form the Studio Number One design agency. The studio has been responsible for the design of such iconic display art as album cover work for The Smashing Pumpkins, the cover of “Monkey Business”, the album by The Black Eyed Peas and the cover art for the Johnn Cash film “Walk the Line”.

OBEY & Barack Obama Hope Poster

The idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity is an essential concept within the phenomenon of art as social activism. Street art and graffiti in particular tie into this counter-cultural concept, one that uses media and grassroots  movements to draw attention to sociopolitical ideas or concerns. Frank Shepard Fairye’s work by nature has an Andy Warhol-esque pop-iconic nature to it that taps into popular culture and sheds light on current issues in an abstract way that causes observers to question their surroundings. In order for art through social activism to work it must spark controversy. While Fairey has established himself within the skater community of Rhode Island with his well known Andre the Giant OBEY art work, his real national fame spawned out of the Barack Obama Hope campaign.

The controversy over the photo emerged when Fairey decided to apply his brand of graphic design to a photograph taken by an Associated Press (AP) photographer, specifically  Mannie Garcia, the man who took the picture of who at the time was Presidential candidate Barack Obama. The court case Fairey v. Associated Press challenged the notion that Fairey’s use of the photo was legally justifiable and an example of fair use under copyright law, mainly defense under the Copyright Act. 3. Under “fair use”, Fairey’s special touch on the photo, making it into a popular aesthetic poster popularized the already recognizable image.

In their article in the Harvard Journal on Law and Technology, covering the main issues of the Hope poster case and how it relates to fair use legislation, the authors note that individuals that seek to take advantage of the “fair use” legislation for artistic or sometimes even commercial purposes, do so at their own risk and this is largely due to the way the legislation is drafted. They state that, these individuals “engaging in fair use face precisely the sort of uncertainty that these doctrines seek to avoid (Fisher et al., 4). For example, the authors further point out that the copyright law entails no clearly defined fair use or safe harbor doctrine, which exposes it to the “equitable rule of reason” due its rampant vagaries (Fisher et al., 4). The authors state that due to the “vagaries and indefiniteness encompassed within the adjective ‘reasonable’. One leading treatise states that ‘[n]o copyright doctrine is less determinate than fair use’, and that fair use is ‘a fact-specific doctrine that aims to negotiate liability in situations too fine-grained for Congress to address specifically in the statute’ (Fisher et al., 4). The complexity of fair use is something which Farey’s work confronted head on, in addition to the Obama Hope poster serving as documentation of a drastic change in the American political landscape, the legal controversy surrounding the poster allowed for potential precedence to be set that could further clarify the letter of the law regarding fair use in copyright law.

The essential problem with fair use in copyright legislation is that it is drafted in such a pragmatic way that litigators are forced to deal with possible infringements on a case by case basis. backed only by previous cases and their precedence to assist them as the vagueness of the law allows no room for decisive theoretical interpretation (Fisher et al., 4) The authors use the fact that between 1990 and 2005, there were twice as many articles with fair use in the title than there were actual court opinions on the subject theory, as proof of the inter-determinacy of the law. The authors refer to section 107 of the law in their attempt to distinguish between copyright infringement and fair use, the authors point out that this section of the legislation was designed specifically as it relates to  fair use in criticisms, reporting news, comments, and teaching. The law states that, in determining whether a particular case is violating copyright law or fair use policy, four factors must be assessed, “(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work” (Fisher et. al, 4). The problem with this legislation and the reason why it offers no real clarity stems from the fact that all four factors are openly applied to all cases simultaneously. When all four of these factors are applied to Farey’s Obama Hope work it’s difficult to identify the actual purpose of the piece, or distinctively identify the amount of the original work that was utilized. It could be argued that the poster had a marketable intention as it essentially was used as a tool to promote the candidacy of Barack Obama as President of the United States for the 2008 campaign. Whether this would constitute a violation of fair use depends largely on whether or not the president could have been elected without the promotion from Farey’s design. There is also the fact that the poster’s popularity stems from a philosophy of his own design which is largely based on tapping into phenomenal trends.

He first became known for his “Andre the Giant Has a Posse” (…OBEY…) sticker campaign, where he adapted images from the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. The first notable street art poster by Fairey “Andre the Giant Has a Posse,” shown below, was created and distributed by the skater community throughout Providence, Rhode Island, 1989.

The above image, “André the Giant has a Posse” sticker on a stop sign, represents Shepard Fairey’s first notable piece of publicly distributed street art. Fairey referred to the release of the image as a “phenomenology experiment” (Fairey, n.p.). The image which displays a fictional wanted poster of famous professional wrestler Andre the Giant, would later be readapted as a part of the OBEY movement.  The new adapted version known as the “OBEY Giant”, shown below, was restructured by Fairy to inspire people to assess the meaning within the sticker.

This positioned him with the perfect level of underground sociopolitical notoriety to have credibility with younger voters during the 2008 Presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain. It was during this election that he would become most widely known through his adaption of the AP photo of, at the time presidential hopeful Barack Obama, to a graphics arts piece.  The signature difference between the Associated Press photo by Mannie Garcie and Shepard’s version of the photo of Barack Obama was that Shepard attached the word “Hope” to the poster under Barack Obama’s name poster. The Institute of Contemporary Art, in Boston, cited Fairey as being one of America’s most famous and influential artists of the street. The OBEY movement itself is reference to a trend in viral mimicking of Farey’s style that formed from the popularity of his Obama Hope poster. This is where many artists create their own images that look similar to Farey’s work and adopt Farey’s style. The fact that Farey focuses his style on the ability to draw massive attention to a particular image and then make people question the world around them creates and element where the philosophy more than the style is shared throughout society. An example of the OBEY movement in action can be seen with an adaptation of the Barack Obama Hope poster to the late actor Heath Ledgar in his popular Joker costume from the film The Dark Knight, shown below:

The above image is an example of how the internet has adapted Fairey’s style to a wide range of other images. Essentially this makes Fairey’s style as iconic as the icons he seeks to portray in his work. This represents a movement that has evolved out of the posters and stickers that  artist first produced. Originally Fairey just intended to gain the respect of his classmates and his friends within the skater community. Fairey noted that he later identified that the Andre the Giant sticker could reach a larger segment of society and cause them to question their surroundings. This is what maid him identify its public street distribution as an experiment in phenomenology. The concept behind this is the core factor that empowers the OBEY movement’s viral nature. THe sharing of ideas and concepts through the sharing of images. In the OBEY website Manifesto, he notes that, “the OBEY sticker campaign is best identified, according to Fairey as an experiment in phenomenology, an attempt at seeing how the public responds to mass marketing of ideas, without the commercialism” (Fairey, 1). Fairey goes on to point out that “Heidegger defines Phenomenology as a process where the observers is allowed to interpret and manifest meaning for themselves’ (Fairey, 1). He states that, phenomenology essentially makes an attempt at empowering people visualize concepts more clearly in a way that can provided deeper or more insightful meaning. Fairey is keen to point out that through this definition the concept usually refers to things that are directly in front of the observer’s eyes but obscured slightly, hiding certain aspects from sight. He is specifically referring to those things that directly before the eyes of the observer but taken for granted. Fairey states that these objects “are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation” (Fairey, 1). This is the main premise behind his work in which he describes through his manifesto. Fairey’s manifesto, which was published in 1990, then proceeds to break down the concept of phenomenology into a select group of aims, noting that the first aim is to “reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment” (Fairey, 1). He argues that this is exactly what the OBEY sticker takes a shot at doing by invigorating the curiosity of its observers. He says the sticker was designed to make observers feel compelled to question their personal relationship with the image as well as the relevance of the image to their surroundings.

Fairey provides a more descriptive explanation of why this works noting that, due to the fact most individuals are not accustomed to observing ads “or propaganda where the product is not on full display or made obvious to the observer. This also makes the motives of the advertisment questionable. In cases where a product is being promoted, the observer is accustomed to the traditional relationship between brand and consumer. Fairey further points out that the novel and frequent encounters with his stickers can result in significant frustration in the mind of the observer, because all of the information associated with the image is not neatly packaged for them. By leaving the images open ended, and leaving room for interpretation, but creating images that aesthetically make it difficult for the observer to ignore them  Fairey is creating a situation where his artwork “provokes thought and potential frustration, but nevertheless it still revitalizes the viewer’s perception and attention to detail” (Fairey, 1). Through inspiring onlookers by to pay closer attention to detail, it also forces them to pay closer attention to the meaning behind the details, as they attempt formulate what those possible  meanings could be in their own minds.  The artist feels that the OBEY title holds no actual meaning and is in reference to nothing of particular importance, which enables it to be open to interpretation in the mind of the observer inspiring them to search for meaning and react based on their own personal ideologies and preconceived beliefs.

Many of Fairey’s works take advantage of this form of dark irony. He is correct when he says that the meaning of his work, while political in its implications, real form in the mind of the observer based on their own personal beliefs. Fairey points out that most of the people he has come in contact with  who are familiar with the poster find the image to be amusing, and they recognize it as nonsensical, making them able to enjoy the image for its straight forwards aesthetic value. This means most viewers have no need to find a deeper meaning in the image while what Farey refers to as, “The Paranoid Or Conservative Viewer” is more likely to feel confused by the sticker’s seemingly omnipresence throughout society making them more likely to condemn the image as a product of some “underground cult with subversive intentions” (Fairey, 1). The artist attributes this type of reaction to why many of the stickers are taken down by people who find them disturbing and consider them to be pure vandalism. Fairey notes this is a very ironic reaction and fails to account for the vast amount of commercialism of which people are exposed to on a daily basis. In the manifesto explaining the motives and ideology behind his art, Fairey further notes that “another phenomenon the sticker has brought to light is the trendy and Conspicuously Consumptive nature of many members of society” (Fairey, 1). He attributes this to the fact that many hold onto the stickers as souvenirs and take pride in a moral connection of rebellion they feel is associated with the imagery. He also notes that through displaying his stickers on nearly every street across the world it creates a subliminal and nostalgic affiliation with the environment and time which further resonates with fans of his work. In this regard collectors of Fairey’s work extend beyond the traditional art collector into basic individuals who might associate his stickers or posters with the time they visited NewYork City, attended college, or voted for Barack Obama. This makes them more likely purchase one of Fairey’s works to have their own piece of the memory as a memento to commemorate the place and time and surroundings.

Marita Sturken credits this trend in embracing the art of Shepard Fairey by a new age of art lover and appreciation of modern culture to what she calls “The new aesthetic of patriotis” She argues that this a trend that ad formed over the past 5 years from Farey’s Obama Hope poster and its popularity and states that the Obama Administration has followed the trend noting that “among the many changes in American society signaled by the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency is a new aesthetic of American patriotism. This can be seen, in one way, in the fact that Barack and Michelle Obama have begun to change the art that is displayed on the White House walls” (Sturken, 68). The author points out that this drastic change in the artwork featured in the White House, specifically in the form of works created by Shepard Farey and artists like him is very different from the standard artwork that used to be on display such still life paintings and images of landscape or the American West. Fairey states himself that his work is more abrasive and forces the observer to react, revealing their own personal ideals and beliefs about the world. In his manifesto Fairey states that, the “Giant stickers are embraced but they also have a tendency to be rejected, depending entirely on the perspective of the observer” (Fairey, 1). The artist acknowledges that  reason behind this stems from the open ended nature with which his work addresses very controversial issues. In the case of most controversial issues, individuals already hold onto specific bias. Fairey suggests that when individuals view his images and decide whether they like the image  or hate the image the actual decision they make “reflects the psyche of the viewer” (Fairey, 1). Regardless of whether their reaction is good or bad, infavor of, or against a particular issue, the goal of the image is accomplished because it was simply designed to make them think. Fairey reinforces this concept in his manifesto when he states that the sticker’s existence is valuable as long as it causes people to consider the details and meanings of their environment” (Fairey, 1). The artist does however note that he is reaching for this reaction in individuals in the name of observation and fun and nothing more. Regardless, Sturken argues that the new political aesthetic is one that artists like Fairey are triggering through their work in this modern era.

Sturken defines the new political aesthetic and its emergence through Fairey’s artwork as an importance placed on style which attempts to “define contemporary image culture” (Sturken, 68).  The author notes that the work is characterized by  “an ease with branding culture, a cross-class low-brow to middle-brow to high-brow mixing of cultural forms from hip hop to jazz to modern and postmodern art, an aesthetic of pastiche and citation” (Sturken, 68). The author goes on to point out the connection Barack Obama has with this new era in political aesthetic reliant on style to define contemporary culture, stating that style is an essential aspect of Fairey’s work and it is also a signature “feature of this President’s public persona and appeal” (Sturken, 68). The main point Sturken attempts to get across is that the style emphasized by both Fairey, through his work, and President Barack Obama is one that is subtle and exuded without effort. This can be seen in the simplistic way Fairey implies subtle political connotation without making any direct reference to context. In fact, he lets the context in which his work is displayed, the streets in this day and time, speak for itself.

In Martin Irvine’s article, “The Work on the Street: Street Art and Visual Culture,” he notes that artists like Swoon, Banksy and Shepard Fairey have attained level of recognition in the art world rarely ever seen. He reaffirms Farey’s belief in the power of phenomenons as it relates to visual culture in the modern era of branding and commercialism. He notes that, “for contemporary visual culture, street art is a major connecting node for multiple disciplinary and institutional domains that seldom intersect with this heightened state of visibility” (Irvine, 4).  He attributes the ability of street culture, specifically street art to directly intersect with commercialism as one of the key defining factors that enable artists like Shepard Fairey to make their work synonymous with mainstream commercial culture. In further elaborating on how these different aspects of society intersect through street art, he notes that the “clash of intersecting forces that surround street art exposes often suppressed questions about regimes of visibility and public space, the constitutive locations and spaces of art, the role of communities of practice and cultural institutions, competing arguments about the nature of art and its relation to a public, and the generative logic of appropriation and remix culture (just to name a few)” (Irvine, 4). This concept has an implied nature of rebellion and innovation associated with it. It is the same type of clash in culture that Fairey makes reference to in his manifesto.

Recent Work

The Hasley Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston recently held what is arguably Shepard Fairey’s first major art exhibition. The exhibition allowed Fairey to put on display all of his most recent work since the 2009 Obama Hope Poster garnered him international acclaim. Throughout the exhibition, Fairy displays many of his more rebellious works in regards to political power structures in America. This can be seen in the title of the exhibition, as the the institute notes, “for his first major exhibition in his hometown, the Los Angeles-based artist created an entire new body of work collectively entitled “Power & Glory”. According to Fairey, the idea behind these works is the celebration and critique of Americana with an emphasis on the meanings of power” (Hasley Institute, 1). The painting below is a prime example of the power and glory as it taps into the gun control debate currently running rampant in America. The emblem “protect yourself” stemming from the image of a smoking gun both emphasises the predominantly conservative view of the right to bare arms against tyrannical governments, while at the same time reinforcing the predominantly liberal view affiliated with the fear and danger that can result from unregulated gun use. Even though the emblem says, “protect yourself” there is deep irony the fact that the barrel of the gun is pointed at the observer.

Many of Fairey’s works take advantage of this form of dark irony. He is correct when he says that the meaning of his work, while political in its implications, real form in the mind of the observer based on their own personal beliefs. In the above image the viewer could perceive the image either way. On one hand they could feel it supports their view that Americans do need to arm themselves and protect themselves, but they easily could view it as support for the opposing view that guns are dangerous. Both statements on this controversial issue tie into much of the rebelliousness in Fairey’s work, which is why most of his fans flock to his work. The Hasley Institute notes that, “staying true to his rebellious punk background, and the social and political critique in his work, the new pieces are full of “in your face” slogans and statements about power, security, protection and similar subjects” (Hasley Institute, 1). Another example of this type of in your face edgy political commentary can be seen with the image below of the scales of justice.

The above image is another one of Fairey’s pieces on display in Los Angeles. The words read “justice is no longer blind. Buy scale tipping services here”. The clear indication is that justice is for sale, or the lack thereof. This concept of the legal system being corrupt and capitalism ruling over all has been long debated within American culture, but Fairey addresses the concept directly without any subtle implications. Once again however, the image he uses to address the issue could support either side politically. There are many people who feel the tactics of Barack Obama utilizing executive orders to get laws passed to help the poor and less privleged members of American society, while holding the wealthier members accountable is illegal and as a result they have even tried to sue him in court. Likewise, there are those who believe only the wealthy have any real power in society and they can get away with virtually anything they want through the court systems. This political view could be examined from either perspective and it would be up to the interpreter to define what is good or bad. The Hasley Institute further supports this perspective pointing out that, Fairey is “known for his visual remix of logos, symbols, and imagery, the new paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and screen prints explore and analyze everything that is both good and bad about American lifestyle and culture” (Hasley Instute, 1). No image better addresses the controversial conflict of good and evil, morality or the complexity of religious right or wrong than the image below.

The above image displays a bird flying free with a target on its chest, while a hand holds a machine gun. The emblem underneath the Machine gun states that America is the country where God saves and Satan invests. The irony in this statement is more complex than the simple way in which it’s used. The phrase “God saves” is a common saying within American culture, but more specifically American Christian culture, and it touches on the emphasis many Americans place on God. The man holding the gun is holding a machine gun, which implies military and war. When Fairey makes the connection between God saving and the military gun there is an implied message of religious wars or Christian crusades in the name of God saving the souls of the non-Christian world by indoctrinating them into Christianity. The image also states that Satan invests in America while God saves. This has another double meaning that can be assessed on many different levels. One way of viewing the concept is that Satan sees America as a sound investment for his cause, the other way of looking at it is that God holds onto his money, value or attention depriving America of it, while Satan invests his full attention in America. There are so many ways of viewing this image that analyzing it could literally be an endless process.  The final aspect of the image that holds some special significance is the image of the bird flying with a target on its chest. At first glance it may simply come across as bird, or white dove, but their is deep symbolic meaning in the bird that Fairey could be trying to communicate to the observer or in the tradition of his artistic philosophy, he could be enabling the reader to make their own connection.

Another essential aspect of Fairey’s work as he expands into the world of having his art displayed in museums is to still stay true to the form that gained him his notoriety, which is the street art. This is why he makes a habit of displaying street art around the city of every region where he is having an exhibition and the Los Angeles exhibition is no different, “along with exhibiting his works in the indoor space, Fairey will be creating a series of large-scale public murals in locations throughout downtown Charleston, visually and thematically related to the show” (Hasley Institute, 1). The fact that Fairey does this serves as an added benefit for all the people who might not have bene able to afford tickets to the exhibition or who might not have been able to get tickets in time before the exhibition sold out. It also serves as a way for Fairey to pay homage to his street art fan base.

Conclusion

In sum, Shepard Fairey could be likened to a modern day Andy Warhol in how his work is both an integral part of American popular culture while also reflecting societal concerns, culture, and beliefs. The idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity is an essential concept within the phenomenon of art as social activism. Street art and graffiti in particular tie into this counter-cultural concept, one that uses media and grassroots  movements to draw attention to sociopolitical ideas or concerns. Fairey notes that through displaying his stickers on nearly every street across the world it creates a subliminal and nostalgic affiliation with the environment and time which further resonates with fans of his work.His rise to success is parallel to the same icons he displays in his work, as well as the very culture he emulates. The way he leveraged street art, an aesthetic that is commonly identified with illegal vandalism, into a lucrative way to gain exposure an notoriety, is comparable to how hip hop artist Jay-Z utilized revenues earned from crack cocaine sales in New York to buy his on record label and eventually become a reputable business mogul. Hip hop, punk rock, and skater culture are key aspects of Fairey’s work as they represent the mentality of rebellion prevalent in Fairey’s work. In fact, the way Fairey adapts the photographs taken by others to his philosophy of phenomenonlogy to produce something authentically his own is identical to the way Hip Hop producers sample music from the past to make new and original tracks. More notable than the success and popularity of his work, is the controversial legal battles over fair use that has spawned out of this act of sampling that is common in Fairey’s work and the street art community as a whole. Regardless of Fairey’s starting point, he has embedded himself into the modern culture as an valued surveyor of American sociopolitical life and through doing so, his work has gained a timeless status among many of the great artists that came before.  It was also revealed that, the artist feels that the OBEY title holds no actual meaning and is in reference to nothing of particular importance, which enables it to be open to interpretation in the mind of the observer inspiring them to search for meaning and react based on their own personal ideologies and preconceived beliefs. He originally intended to gain the respect of his classmates and his friends within the skater community, Fairey noted that he later identified that the Andre the Giant sticker could reach a larger segment of society and cause them to question their surroundings. His assumption turned out to be correct.

Works Cited

Fairey, Shepard. Obama Hope Poster. (April 11, 2009)

Fairey, Shepard. “OBEY Manifesto.” OBEY. (1990). <retrieved from> www.obeygiant.com

Fisher III, William W., et al. “Reflections on the Hope Poster Case.” Harv. JL & Tech. 25 (2011): 243.

“The Joker Shepard Fairey Style,” Pinterest.com, (2009) n.p.

Hasley Institute.  Hasely Institute of Contemporary Art, (2014).

Irvine, Martin. “The Work on the Street: Street Art and Visual Culture.” Handbook of Visual Culture. London, Palgrave Macmillan (2011).

Sturken, Marita. “The new aesthetics of patriotism.” journal of visual culture 8.2 (2009): 168.