Shepard FaireyContemporary artist, Graphic designer and

Illustrator

Jonathan Murray6/6/10Ms. Tang, 8th Grade English

Vital Statistics•Real name is Frank Shepard Fairey•Born February 15, 1970•Death: Still alive•Gender: Male•Fairey became interested with art in 1984•Shepard Fairey was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina•In 1988, he graduated from Idyllwild Arts Academy, and in 1992, Fairey graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration.

Personal Background• Fairey's first art exhibition, aptly named Supply & Demand, along with his book, was

displayed in Boston at the Institute of Contemporary Art in the summer of 2009.• He created the "André the Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign in 1989, while

attending the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). This later evolved into the "Obey Giant" campaign, which has grown via an international network of collaborators replicating Fairey's original designs.

• After graduation, he founded a small printing business in Providence, Rhode Island, called Alternate Graphics, specializing in t-shirt and sticker silkscreens, which afforded Fairey the ability to continue pursuing his own artwork.

• In 2003 he founded the Studio Number One design agency with his wife Amanda Fairey. The agency produced the cover work for the Black Eyed Peas' album Monkey Business and the poster for the film Walk the Line. Fairey has also designed the covers for The Smashing Pumpkins' album Zeitgeist, Flogging Molly's CD/DVD Whiskey on a Sunday, the Led Zeppelin compilation Mothership and Anthrax's The Greater Of Two Evils.

• In addition to his successful graphic design career, Fairey also DJ's at many clubs under the name DJ Diabetic and Emcee Insulin, as he has diabetes.

Key Historical Events

• New York Clean Train Movement era, made Graffiti art come onto the Streets instead of on trains, because trains punished it severely at that point in time, which would influence Fairey to do street art instead.

Influence of the Art World• Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama's 2008

candidacy for President of the United States, including the iconic "HOPE" portrait.

• Fairey has come under criticism for appropriating others' artwork into his own while failing to provide attribution for the work used. Fairey has threatened to sue artists for the same technique. Austin, Texas graphic designer Baxter Orr did his own take on Fairey's work in a piece called Protect, with the iconic Obey Giant face covered by a SARS respiratory mask. He started selling prints through his website marketed as his own work. On April 23, 2008 Orr received a signed cease-and-desist order from Fairey's attorneys, telling him to pull Protect from sale because they alleged it violated Fairey's trademark. Fairey threatened to sue, calling the designer a "parasite". Fairey seems like almost a hypocrite.

Stylistic Traits

• Constructivist• Uses Contrasting colors to make images eye

popping • Uses Spray Paint• Uses Stencils• Art usually expresses Fairey’s political views,

like this one in the background

Burmese Monk-2008

•Constructivist Style of Art•Warm Colors•Empty Space•Peaceful Colors

Smokey Robinson-2009

•Uses Stencil Like Shading•Eye popping colors•Smokey seems calm•Picture broken up into 4 colors

Jaws Wave-2009

•Uses Shading in waves•Can barely see person yet he is bolded and centered.•Uses 4 layers of color.

My Original ArtMy Artwork Has:

•Contrast•Stencil like Layers•Empty Spaces•Spray Painted Image

Conclusion

• Well Probably the Hardest part of this entire project was making the stencils for the spray paint. I learned that Shepard Fairey uses spray paint as layers.

• Strength: Presenting everyday things in new ways

• Weakness: Lack of detail

Any Questions?