Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Faireyis an American contemporary street artist, graphic designer, activist, illustrator and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse"sticker campaign while attending the Rhode Island School of Design, which appropriated images from the comedic supermarket tabloid Weekly World News...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGraphic Designer
Date of Birth15 February 1970
CityCharleston, SC
CountryUnited States of America
Most campaigns rely on photographs because the moment you do something that is a graphic interpretation where any artistic license has been taken, I think a lot of people are scared that it's going to be perceived as propaganda.
The problem with copyright enforcement is that when the parameters aren't incredibly well defined, it means big corporations, who have deeper pockets and better lawyers, can bully people.
There's good and bad in every arena. It's funny, some people, the reason they're in the underground is because they're lazy and don't make things happen for themselves.
The Internet hasn't had a chance to really get to where people look at it with the proper level of scrutiny. There's so much bullshit on the Internet. It doesn't get filtered out because it's such a new medium.
If the idea that my safety can only be enhanced by putting other people's privacy and safety in danger, then I don't want to be more safe.
I think the Internet has definitely made it easier for people to have stuff seen, but it's also encouraged a level of ADD, where you see so much that if it doesn't make an impact on you immediately, you don't look at it.
I think that the influence of people with power and money to distort democracy and have their interests served before the rest of the population is the biggest problem. That is caused by two things: campaign finance and the way that's structured, and by the Citizen's United supreme court decision. So those two things are keeping democracy from working right.
When it comes to the street-art world, there are a lot of people who realize if they go out and put up a few pieces of street art and photograph them really well, even if their locations weren't actually that high-profile or dangerous, with the level of exposure they get from the Internet, with a large audience, they can maintain that rebel cache by having it be theoretically documented street art.
I think the biggest thing that people fear when it comes to art becoming a business is those authentic, pure aspirations of art being compromised.
A lot of people thought I got famous as a studio artist, then decided to cash in on it. But it actually was just a matter of survival for many years, and I felt it was really important for me to be able to say whatever I wanted with my street art and fine art.
The great thing about the Internet is, it has made it easier for people who are clever and resourceful to promote themselves.
I've never had an original thought in my lifeand there's tons of people on the internet happy to tell me just that.
The way I make art, the way a lot of people make art, is as an extension of language and communication, where references are incredibly important.
The sticker has no meaning but exists only to cause people to react, to contemplate and search for meaning in the sticker,