Term II Assignment 1

The contemporary artist that I will be basing this essay on, is the American visual artist and graphic designer, Shepard Fairey. I will first give a brief account of his background, and then I will discuss his works in relation to their specific historical context and the contribution these images made on that particular period. I will also discuss his relevance and explain what global or local events motivated the works. Finally, I will discuss what themes are found in his works.


Shepard Fairey in his studio



Shepard Fairey was born as Frank Shepard Fairey on 15 February 1970, in Charleston, South Carolina in the United States of America. In 1992 he graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration and soon became well known in the underground skateboarding scene for his street designs. Apart from his successful graphic design career, Fairey also DJ’s under the aliases DJ Diabetic and Emcee Insulin (as he has diabetes). He created the “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign in 1989 which later evolved into the “Obey Giant” campaign. Overtime the sticker has been used worldwide, following in the footsteps of the World War II icon; “Kilroy Was Here” Apart from this Fairey has a number of artworks to his name which include book covers for George Orwell’s “1984” and “Animal Farm” and a number of political and anti-war posters.


"Kilroy was here"


Book cover "1984" by George Orwell


Book cover "Animal Farm" by George Orwell

Fairey’s political and activist works are arguably his most popular works to date. As a skateboarder and street artist, Fairey’s works are aesthetically influenced by the simplicity and boldness of stencil art, which was a popular form of street art. These characteristics are manifested in his silkscreen prints, which since recently have been used as a medium for political and anti-war messages. One of these artworks is the “Hope for Darfur” campaign that was launched in September 2008. The work was commissioned by HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) which is a humanitarian organisation focused on supporting existing social projects that promote education and growth. The poster series focuses on the future of the children in Darfur, and it raises awareness of the political situation. Another of these works is Fairey’s anti-war, anti-bush campaign titled “War: Everybody Wants It, Except Smart People and the U.N” This artwork was produced in 2008.It focuses on the American war on the Middle East, and questions the reasoning behind that war. The most popular of Fairey’s political works is the work he produced for the Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign in 2008. This work was inspired by Fairey’s belief that Barack Obama was to be the next president of the United States of America. Fairey felt this “great conviction” because he believed that Obama was in actual fact a statesman rather than a Politian. Where others (such as Hillary Clinton) were in favour of the war on the Middle East, Obama stood firmly in opposition, a stance that Fairey also firmly believed in. As a result Fairey produced screen print portraits of Obama with the word “Hope” on them. The posters were later endorsed by the Democratic Party and revised. The word “Hope” was replaced with the word “Progress” and the word “Vote” in other renditions of the print. This particular poster series made a great contribution to Obama’s campaign. It generated awareness and support from the youth and the ordinary man on the street. Because Fairey is a respected underground street artist who is revered mostly by the youth worldwide, his works are able to generate awareness and spread political messages to the youth and to anyone who might see it posted on a wall on the streets.


"HOPE for Darfur"


“War: Everybody Wants It, Except Smart People and the U.N”


“The Obama 2008 Presidential Election Campaign”

Fairey’s works are mostly a response to current global political and social issues. Such issues include the conflict in Darfur, the Bush administration and their war on the Middle East and the conflict between Israel and Palestine to name a few. It is quite evident that the recurring themes in his works are war or a specific political stance. Examples of such works include.
I believe that such works boldly declare Shepard Fairey as an activist artist and one whose works have had a great impact on the world.

Bibliography
1. [o] http://www.thegiant.org/ Accessed on 02 May 2009
2. Orwell. G. 2008, 1984, Penguin Group (USA)
3. Orwell. G. 2008, Animal Farm, Penguin Group (USA)