Take a walk on the wild side!
An inside and fascinating look into the world of Shepard Fairey and his new Black & White collection…
There’s a new Shepard Fairey book about to hit the stands… entitled ‘The Philosophy of Obey’ the book comes in three versions. Comprehensive, Volume I, Volume II.
“The Philosophy of Obey (Obey Giant) is one of the fundamental texts of 21st Century aesthetics - short, bold, candid, puzzling and remarkable in its power to stir the imagination of philosophers and artists alike.”
Arguably one of the most compelling works of philosophy and art written in the twentieth-first century, Philosophy of Obey is the only artistic — philosophical work that Obey has published during its campaign. Written in short, carefully numbered sentences of extremely revealing candor, it will capture the imagination of a generation of Street Artists and philosophers. For Obey, discourse is something we use to examine reality which is in itself both elusive and unobtainable. Obey famously summarized this book in the following words: “I aim to bring something new to every artwork.” The work is prefaced by Sarah Jaye Williams introduction to the first edition.
Obey Giant (1989 – 2008). Regarded by many as one of the most significant street art campaigns.
Says Shepard of the book, “…Sarah Jaye Williams knows art history, art theory, and has followed my Obey art and ideas throughout my career. She has compiled quotes for the “Philosophy of Obey” book by meticulously reading hundreds of my articles and interviews. These quotes touch on a broad range of topics and show the evolution of my positions over the years. There is humor, irreverence, hope, pessimism, anger, jubilation, and even maybe some wisdom mixed in with all the potentially contradictory thoughts and emotions. I think there is substantial food for thought in this spectrum statements. Check it out…”
Coming straight from the Shepard Fairey camp is Fairey’s support for Barack Obama in the United States Presidential race.
“…I believe with great conviction that Barack Obama should be the next President. I have been paying close attention to him since the Democratic convention in 2004. I feel that he is more a statesman than a politician. He was against the war when it was an unpopular position (and Hillary was for the war at that time), Obama is for energy and environmental conservation. He is for healthcare reform. Check him out for yourself www.barackobama.com. Proceeds from this print go to produce prints for a large statewide poster campaign. Thanks. Shepard…”
As an Australian, the US election should mean jack-shit to me, but as a citizen of the World, I have more than a passing interest in getting Bush (and anyone or any Party associated with him) out of office. With that in mind, I’ll gladly post Shepard’s poster on this site and lend my support (however trivial) to Barack Obama.
Of course, the posters sold out almost instantly but if you missed out on getting the HOPE and PROGRESS posters, you can still help out the obama campaign by printing out your own obama paster here.
Shepard Fairey, founder of Obey Giant and world-renowned stencil artist, talks to Crave about the inspiration behind his work and his motivation as an artist.
A little bit about Shepard: In 1992, while still an illustration student at RISD, Fairey started his first business venture, Alternate Graphics, to showcase his emerging design and silkscreen printing talents. He created stickers, t-shirts, skateboards, and posters which were all available via black and white mail order catalogs that he distributed. He also did small commercial printing jobs for clients to help cover some of his expenses. In 1994, Helen Stickler created a documentary film, Andre the Giant Has a Posse, that focused on Fairey and the growing phenomenon of his subversive stickers and posters. By 1995, Fairey had two or three full time employees, two of whom were long time friends from Charleston, whom he had known through his many years of skateboarding. During this time, he also created a small sister brand, Subliminal Projects, with Blaize Blouin, and released several skateboard and poster designs using this moniker. Fairey created a skateboard video, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), that showcased the small group of skateboarders that he sponsored via Alternate Graphics.
UPDATED: Check out Part 2 of a 4 part video series here.
Check out Part 1 of a 4 part video series here.
And whilst we’re at it, here’s a recent interview on YouTube at the ‘Rise Above’ Exhibition @ Merry Karnowsky Gallery: (via)
I’ve never been what you would call a Led Zeppelin die-hard. I’ve certainly appreciated their stamp on the Rock genre - even if lately they have come under considerable criticism due to some underhanded ways they stole some of their music from other artists. Having said that, I grew up in the Black Sabbath camp but always had a passing glance at what Zeppelin was doing.
Last week I noticed the new compilation ‘Mothership’ had been released. What really caught my eye was the beautiful packaging and stunning artwork which was designed by the infamous Shepard Fairey. I bought the disc on the spot just for this very reason. It was just too gorgeous to pass up and I’ve got my fingers crossed a vinyl version is produced.
Says Fairey on his website: “…I was recently asked to do the package for Led Zeppelin’s two CD one DVD greatest hits package Mothership. Zep is one of my favorite bands of all time and if they aren’t one of yours, you need to check that your DNA is human. If my art is 1 percent as good as this band I’m in good shape. What I’m trying to say is that the opportunity for me to hitch a ride on the coat tails of such an influential band is an honor and a coup…”
So with the new disc in tow, and God it sounds friggn amazing. The remastering is absolutely second-to-none and I am hearing stuff on this that I have never heard before in over 30 years of listening to Zeppelin. And so the Zep bug has bitten down hard ‘cos for the past week or so, this is all I have been listening to!
Vox Populi
RSS