Shepard Fairey was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1970. At the age of fourteen, he is already part of the skateboarding and punk rock communities, making his mark in the underground scene. Then he decides to join the Rhôde Island School of Design in Providence. From 1989 to 1992 he specializes in illustration and applies directly this theoretical education to the production of a large variety of goods such as customised and politically engaged tee-shirts and skateboards - his slogan: «Manufacturing quality dissent since 1989».
In 1989, with some of his classmates, he is behind the project «Andre the Giant Has a Posse», a sticker that invades these same underground communities, a «private joke». Yet, it goes so viral that it becomes an international phenomenon. The image of the French wrestler, André Roussimoff, simply found in an American newspaper is thus born under the iconic aesthetics of Shepard Fairey, who actually produces a genuine symbol of protest.
Following a lawsuit launched by Titan Sports, holders of the trademark «Andre the Giant», Shepard Fairey ironically renames his campaign, and his signature, «Obey the Giant» in 1998. While this imperative form openly and publicly demonstrates his dissent, his sticker becomes an iconic image in which thousands of people around the world see themselves.
Obey’s artistic production gradually becomes ubiquitous. It goes beyond US borders and grows into our environment; from album covers to thousands of posters clandestinely put up to mural works designing our urban landscapes, it enters public space and directly impacts our lives.
In 2008, Obey creates Barack Obama’s portrait during his presidential campaign. This work marks a clear turning point in his career as an artist and as an activist. HOPE becomes an icon as well as a symbol of revolution. Obey then gains international attention with this work published massively in international media.
The artist draws his influences from antagonism; populist political propaganda and commercial advertising arising from globalization. His references include Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera’s work and its tremendous social power, but also Andy Warhol’s Pop Art and his viral scope, as well as graffiti, Alexander Rodtchenko’s constructivism and Marxist theories. Shepard Fairey lives and works in Los Angeles, California.
