Shepard Fairey

Born in 1970, Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary artist and one of the most influential street artists in the world. The artist has an activist approach to his work, with a desire to prompt the viewer to “question everything”. Fairey has been recognised as a leading campaigner – in 2011, the artist designed the cover for Time Magazine, which honoured “The Protester” as Person of the Year. You can find Shepard Fairey street art for sale on Rise Art.

Shepard Fairey’s work is characterised by black and white graffiti and screen-printing, as well as repeated motifs such as roses. The artist is perhaps best-known for designing the Barack Obama “Hope” poster for the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign. Fairey’s activism and humanitarian work includes donating proceeds from “Hope” sales to the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2014, the artist created an anti-war mural in Berlin, Germany.

Fairey’s Education and Career

The American artist was raised in South Carolina, before transferring to Idyllwild Arts Academy in California. Fairey became involved in art from the age of fourteen, when he began designing for skateboards and t-shirts. In 1992, the artist graduated with a degree in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Having graduated, Fairey set up a business selling clothing and stickers, which allowed him to focus on his prints and portraits. While the artist exhibited throughout the 90s and early 2000s, the first art museum exhibition of Shepard Fairey’s urban art took place in 2009 at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

Shepard Fairey Street Art Process

Inspired by pop artists like Andy Warhol, Shepard Fairey borrows images and ideas from culture, film and philosophy. The artist aims to provoke by inserting eye-catching and ambiguous images into public spaces. One example is Fairey’s OBEY Giant artwork which featured wrestler Andre the Giant above the slogan “OBEY”, taken from John Carpenter’s film They Live. Fairey’s spin-off OBEY originally began with a small sticker campaign before branching into a successful clothing line. The brand features Fairey’s signature black and red stencilled style.

Shepard Fairey’s political art isn’t always ambiguous, but often follows a pop art influence. In The Future Is Equal (2022), the artist uses a screen-printing technique to depict the profile of a female protester in vivid abstract teal and red. Behind the figure, Fairey prints an historic newspaper headline announcing the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment, which guaranteed protection against sexual discrimination.

Notable Collections and Collaborations

Shepard Fairey’s fine art prints have been included in many prestigious collections from The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Fairey has collaborated with other notable street artists throughout his career, such as Banksy and Dmote. In 2004, Fairey joined urban artists Robbie Conal and Mear One to create a series of “anti-war, anti-Bush” posters for a street art campaign. Alongside his street art prints, Fairey has designed album artwork for The Black Eyed Peas, Anthrax and Led Zeppelin.