As part of their SGU exhibit last year, art duo MINT and SERF created a series of work comprised of their “graffiti” over prominent street artists including Shepard Fairey. The show was sort of a piss take on the street art scene and the characters in it who love to talk about how ephemeral their work is and then catch feelings when people go over it. Anyway, that was then, this t-shirt is now. It features the MIRF over OBEY image and is officially being sold by the latter.
So, yeah, that’s really nice of you, Shepard Fairey, but there’s something terrifying about this Keith Haring t-shirt for AIDS Walk. Maybe it’s Fairey trademark slapped onto the memory of Haring. Maybe it’s the slightly bemused deer-in-the-headlights look that Fairey exaggerated when generically OBEY-ofying the original photo by Patrick McMullan; it says: “Why am I on this t-shirt?” But this is all for a good cause; $50 donation to AIDS Walk and a promise to walk gets you Fairey’s McMullan’s Haring.
For people who enjoy watching paste dry, the truth-challenged street artist Shepard Fairey will be installing his work at the Levi’s store in Times Square to celebrate his cross-branding endeavor with the jeansmaker: a collection of pre-painted, shredded and patched apparel mimicking Fairey’s own dirty denim. Enticing street art fanboys to buy into the commercial collaboration, “a series of four new poster designs,” actually all old prints updated with the denim company’s bootstrap-pulling slogan “go forth,” will be given out with the purchase of a piece from the Obey x Levi’s collection. The installation begins at 7 PM tonight, followed by Shepard’s promotional poster signing.
Graphic designing street artist Shepard Fairey continues campaigning for the environment, releasing another tabloid-style print warning about the dangers of global warming. Modeled after The Sun and reminiscent of the faux newspapers created and distributed by the Yes Men, Fairey’s “Sun Paper Print” is available sometime tomorrow in an edition of 450 for $45.
Skewville apparently likes to mark his territory and nudge streets artists that put up work in his part of town with a little painted reminder. The Brooklyn-based vandal has been steadily enhancing various pieces and now adds Shepard Fairey to his hit list with this highly appropriate and smartly done modification.
Photo by Bucky Turco/ANIMALnewyork
A soldier in Iraq who has been bombing “various pieces of equipment near his home base” with Shepard Fairey’s OBEY stencil has been tracked downed and identified. |OBEY|
Shepard Fairey’s new backpack from his Obey clothing line comes with a security blanket, perfect for all the streetwear fanboys trying to keep warm while camped outside Supreme for some limited edition whatever. No, seriously, it really does: “Great for camping out for sneaks or hittin’ the concert circuit.” |Obey|
Graphic design stealing creating artist Shepard Fairey took his thoroughly iconic Barack Obama style of shading and has adapted it to create these limited edition Kobe Bryant lithograps for the Upper Deck. There’s basically two styles of the same image offered, but with different lettering: ‘MVP’ or ‘KOBE.’ Slathered in Lakers team colors, the 20×30 inch prints come printed on French archival paper and for more money, they’re offering dual autographed versions signed by both Shepard and Kobe, which is “guaranteed authentic through Upper Deck Authenticated’s patented five-step process,” which is good know considering the cost on these things. Head over to the Upper Deck website for complete pricing since there’s more than a few cost altering options.
While some eager graphic designers, like Baxter Orr, like to take subtle jabs at Shepard Fairey, others go right for the jugular.This parody of the artist’s famed ‘Andre the Giant has a posse’ sticker was spotted in Philly and takes a shot at the man himself, depicting a stencil-like image of the propagandist. Chances are that this take down ain’t making the bootlegs section of the Obey site. |IHateAlex|
Photo: |LunaPark|
Hope Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Love him or hate him, Shepard Fairey gets up. Sure it’s mostly within the safety net of lower Manhattan and Williamsbug, but it still counts on the street art meter. He arrived in town last Thursday to not only DJ the Guggenheim on Friday night, but to also feed a vandalistic itch that he likens to drugs: “I’ve always looked it as a kind of positive addiction. I think that people using the streets to express themselves is a positive thing because most people are too afraid to ever empower themselves. So if it inspires people, even if they don’t do something themselves, even if it gets them talking about the content it gets the issues out on the table, I think that’s relevant too. Even if it’s you man, even if it’s negative. It’s all generating something.” In all, he hit about 16 spots—Gothamist compiled a gallery—working over two days with a lookout/assistant.
Editor-in-Chief:
