Made public Friday through comments made on his website, Shepard Fairey admitted to destroying evidence and creating false documents to conceal the original photo used to create the “Hope” and “Progress” posters popularized during the Obama campaign. Fairey apologized for his “lapse in judgment” and took full responsibility for his actions, which he said were his alone. He has since been dropped by his legal council, which will officially step down once new council can be obtained. It seems Shep will still pursue his case against the AP, in which he contends he has the right to fair use of the image as it was fundamentally transformed from it’s original state. While he “regrets not coming forward sooner,” Fairey’s case against the AP will be severely impacted by this new development, especially considering the loss of his legal team.
Whether you love or hate Shepard Fairey’s work it’s always interesting to see how and artist works. This video put together by our Friends at Arktip shows Shepard busting out the glue sticks and glitter to put together some pieces for an upcoming show. Directed by Felipe Lima and featureing the song ‘Everybody’s Down’ by No Age, watching this made us want to jump on the nearest skateboard and spray paint something.
Bad Brains Collaboration Print
Shepard Fairey x Glen E Friedman x Bad Brains
24 x 18, 3 Color Screen Print, Edition of 425, $120
Signed by Shepard, Glen E Friedman, and all the original members of Bad Brains ON SALE 3/26/09
Limited 1 print per person/household
Bad Brains are one of my favorite punk/hardcore groups of all time. If you don’t have their self titled debut, “Rock For Light”, “I Agaist I”, or “Quickness”, they are all essential. I first heard Bad Brains at the beginning of 1984 when my friend lent me the brilliantly curated and titled Alternative Tentacles compilation “Let Then Eat Jellybeans”(A Reagan dessert favorite update to the Marie Antoinette slogan “Let them eat cake”). The Bad Brains song “Pay to Cum” from their first album was on the comp along with songs by Black Flag, The Dead Kennedys, The Circle Jerks, Flipper, etc.. I then went out to find full length records by all those bands. I soon discovered Minor Threat as well, and learned that Bad Brains had influenced their vocalist Ian MacKaye and Black flag vocalist Henry Rollins who were from Washington DC where Bad Brains had started as well. The Bad Brains were also a huge influence for the Beastie Boys. This collaboration ties into almost all of the bands I mentioned because they were almost all iconically shot at various times by photographer Glen E. Friedman. Glen shot a lot of great photos of Bad Brains and a few different shots were spliced together as the reference for this poster illustration. If you don’t know Glen’s work, go to burningflags.com. This poster is signed by Glen, me, and all the original members of Bad Brains. Keep that PMA.
The reference photo for Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster has been identified and the Associated Press claims it wants to get paid. The photo was shot in 2006 by photographer Mannie Garcia. Shepard preemptively filed a lawsuit attempting to protect himself from copyright infringement claims. While we’re no legal experts and we’re sympathetic to the photographer’s work, we think Shepard’s got this one. A catalyst for the legal feud may have been the acquisition of a related work by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. It was purchased for an undisclosed amount of money.
This is not Shepard Fairey’s first encounter with the legal system. He has been arrested many times (most recently last Friday in Boston). By our estimation, he’s been arrested about fifteen times.
Photographer Mannie Garcia was very gracious. “I don’t condone people taking things, just because they can, off the Internet,†Mr. Garcia said. “But in this case I think it’s a very unique situation. If you put all the legal stuff away, I’m so proud of the photograph and that Fairey did what he did artistically with it, and the effect it’s had.â€
The Robert Berman Gallery
Bergamot Station Arts Center
2525 Michigan Ave., D5
Santa Monica, CAÂ 90404
310.315.1937 | www.robertbermangallery.com
Harley-Davidson has gathered 11 of today’s most relevant and exciting artists to present their take on the theme of rebellion. The Art of Rebellion is a one-night only event taking place on February 7, 2009 from 7-10pm at the Robert Berman Gallery in Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station Arts Center. Each artist was given a gas tank from the latest Harley-Davidson “Sportster 883†motorcycle to use as a canvas for an original work of art. Artwork is for sale and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Art Matters, a foundation that assists socially and aesthetically groundbreaking artists. There will also be giveaways of a limited-edition Shepard Fairey poster.
Roster includes artwork from: Shawn Barber, Christian Clayton, Rob Clayton, Bob Dob, Shepard Fairey, Frank Kozik, Tara McPherson, Alex Pardee, David Trulli, Mark Dean Veca, and Oliver Vernon .
With Obama finally in office and all the coverage we’ve given Shepard Fairey on his posters, we had to laugh when we saw Obamiconme. Now you can upload anything you picture you want and create a Obama style poster. If you can deliver a message of change and hope inspiring the entire county, you can also run for president.
One small step for man kind, one giant leap for Shepard Fairey. The Smithsonian Institute announced last week that the original mixed media collage would be added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery and placed on view to the public by inauguration day. While this may not be the official portrait of Obama, which will be added to the NPG at a later date, it is by far the most iconic. With this piece Shepard has successfully broken into two new territories, national politics and the political landscape of the art world. Neither camp is releasing the price tag on the original piece at this time. Shepard has also released a poster in honor of the inauguration which is available signed for $500 and unsigned for $100.
In the midst of all of this excitement, Shepard is still hard at work with a new show opening Feb 6th 2009. Marking the 20th anniversary of the Obey Giant campaign the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston has put together first museum survey of the artist, Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand. The 20 year retrospective will include stencils, posters, and the stickers the artist used to in his early days in addition to limited edition prints exclusively available at the show. More info here.
Congratulations to Barack Obama on becoming the 44th president of the United States of America. Here’s a special remix by Z-Trip cutting together our next Commander-In-Cheif’s message with a wall pasting by Shepard Fairey outside of Fresh Pressed here in Los Angeles.
In this second collaboration with photographer Al Rockoff, Obey’s Shepard Fairey has created yet another powerful image in his signature style. Without a doubt this print will be strategically pasted around town in no time. If you cannot wait or must one of your own, this aptly named print will be released tomorrow at noon and will be priced at $50 in an edition of 450.
One small step for man kind, one giant leap for Shepard Fairey. The Smithsonian Institute announced last week that the original mixed media collage would be added to the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery and placed on view to the public by inauguration day. While this may not be the official portrait of Obama, which will be added to the NPG at a later date, it is by far the most iconic. With this piece Shepard has successfully broken into two new territories, national politics and the political landscape of the art world. Neither camp is releasing the price tag on the original piece at this time. Shepard has also released a poster in honor of the inauguration which is 
