Shepard Fairey

Frank Shepard Fairey (* February 15, 1970 in Charleston, South Carolina) is a contemporary street art artist, graphic designer and illustrator from the skateboarding scene and became first with his " André the Giant Has a Posse " sticker campaign known. The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, which was dedicated to the artist in 2009, a solo exhibition, called him one of the best known and most influential street artists. He normally only used his middle name and his last name.

Life and work

Fairey invented in 1989, the sticker campaign " Andre the Giant Has a Posse " when he studied at the Rhode Iceland School of Design ( RISD ). From this, the " Obey Giant " campaign, which has developed through the cooperation and reproduction of the label into a global campaign developed. In a manifesto, Fairey wrote in 1990 and can be found on his website, he links his work with Heidegger's concept of phenomenology. His " Obey " campaign used several quotes from the John Carpenter film, including the " Obey " " They Live " - and the " This is Your God" quote.

Fairey graduated RISD in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Illustration from. After graduating he founded in Providence, Rhode Iceland, a small printing company with the name Alternate Graphics, which specialized in screen printing of t-shirts and stickers. This enabled him to pursue his own art. During the time in Providence Fairey in 1994 learned the American filmmaker Helen Stickler know who also attended RISD and there obtained a degree in film industry. In spring 1995, Stickler presented the short film documentary about Fairey and his art finished, titled " Andre the Giant Has a Posse ". The film premiered in 1995 at the New York Underground Film Festival premiere. It was also shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 1997 and to over 70 other film festivals and museums worldwide.

Shepard Fairey founded in 1997 along with Dave Kinsey and Phillip DeWollf the design agency BLK / MRKT, which had specialized in guerilla marketing and the development of " high-impact marketing" campaigns. Clients have included Pepsi, Hasbro and Netscape. Fairey left BLK / MRKT in 2003 and founded his own agency Studio Number One. This works for clients such as Virgin, Adidas or Nike. Fairey created the label OBEY clothing.

In 2004, Shepard Fairey founded with Roger Gastman, the arts and culture magazine Swindle Magazine. In July 2006, the book " Supply and Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey " was released. A major appearance was in the 2010 Fairey Street Art Documentation Exit Through the Gift Shop of the British artist Banksy. In addition to his successful career as a graphic designer and artist Shepard Fairey also performs as a DJ under the name DJ Diabetic and Emcee to insulin in various clubs. He himself is suffering from diabetes. Fairey lives with his wife and daughters in Los Angeles.

In 2012, he got a guest appearance on the famous animated series The Simpsons, in the episode El Barto. The U.S. title of the episode is Exit Through the Kwik -E -Mart, which is a reference to the film Exit Through the Gift Shop. The episode aired in the U.S. on March 4, 2012.

In June 2012, the album Americana by Canadian musician Neil Young, and the band Crazy Horse was published. Fairey created for the extensive artwork.

"Hope " poster, and more accusations of plagiarism

Larger notoriety reached Fairey in the course of the election campaign during the U.S. presidential election in 2008, with its iconic poster "HOPE" for Barack Obama. It is part of a series of posters designed the first Fairey on their own for the Obama campaign. That in the national colors of red, blue and white held, stylistically reminiscent of the Pop Art Posters quickly became the most famous motif of the Obama election campaign. As part of Obama's inauguration, it was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution and is in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC issued. The poster is currently the subject of a copyright dispute between Fairey and the Associated Press news agency. Associated Press claimed the rights to an image serving as a template for the poster photo of the AP photographer Mannie Garcia, the claims to have found Fairey over the image search on Google. In January 2011, both sides agreed to share the rights to the "Hope " poster. The financial details of the agreement remain confidential. Fairey and Associated Press also agreed on future cooperation, in which the artist will use photos of the Agency.

The artist Mark Vallen throws Fairey before further plagiarism. In an extensive and detailed criticism he points to several examples of the work of Shepard Fairey, the clearly based on existing works. Vallen criticized in Fairey works is not a recognizable personal touch and because of the cover-up of the original source of the viewer would knowingly deceived.

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