Après un pop-up store en 2016, le street-artiste Shepard Fairy ouvre enfin un shop à Paris. OBEY, son pseudo, le nom de sa marque et le non du nouveau magasin,…

Shepard Fairey aka Obey Giant (USA, 1970) We the people (are greater than fear) Lithograph on cream paper published by Shepard Fairey (obey) On thin paper 60 x 90 cm (24 x 36 inches) Excellent condition, small defects at the edge of the sheet REFERENCES : Aaron Huey and Shepard Fairey teamed up for a series called WE THE PEOPLE; to promote ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in the USA and to condemn the policies of the TRUMP administration. “We the people must come together under a new symbol of hope, one that reminds us that OUR America is one of equal humanity and does not demean or discriminate.”Shepard Fairey

Sub-Standard Silkscreen Print by Shepard Fairey- OBEY Hand-Pulled 5-Color on Cream Speckletone Fine Art Paper Limited Edition Artwork Obey Pop Culture Artist. 2023 Signed & Numbered Limited Edition of 550 Artwork Size 12x24 Silkscreen Print "This print, “Sub-Standard,” is a comment on the relationship between corporate greed, fossil fuels, and the warming of the planet and collapsing ecosystems. Standard operating, pushed by players like Standard Oil and its many offshoots, should be redefined as sub-standard. If we want to maintain the standard of health our planet needs to avoid catastrophe, we can’t allow big oil to put profits before the planet and profits before people (as well as many other threatened species). Keep in mind that big oil, which is already very profitable, is subsidized by you, the taxpayer, for up to $50 billion per year. In contrast, renewable energy sources are subsidized for only a quarter of that amount. We need to push for change. A portion of proceeds from this print goes to Greenpeace USA‘s efforts to fight for a healthy planet.⁠" -Shepard Fairey- OBEY The silkscreen print titled "Sub-Standard" by Shepard Fairey, part of his OBEY series, is a compelling piece of contemporary art that casts a critical eye on the pressing issue of environmental degradation as it relates to corporate influence and fossil fuel dependency. Limited to a release of 550 signed and numbered editions, the artwork is a bold statement in both form and substance, pulling together the aesthetics of pop, street, and graffiti art onto a cream speckletone fine art paper. Measuring 12x24 inches, each hand-pulled 5-color print stands as a testament to Fairey's technical skill and his commitment to social commentary. Shepard Fairey, a prominent figure in the world of pop culture and street art, uses his medium to challenge the status quo and incite thought about pressing global issues. "Sub-Standard" specifically targets the consequences of the fossil fuel industry's actions on climate change and ecological destruction. Fairey's reference to Standard Oil and its successors points to a legacy of environmental policy that prioritizes profit over the planet's health, indicating a dire need for change in corporate practices. The artwork employs powerful symbolism, with the juxtaposition of an industrial motif against a backdrop that signifies the natural world in distress, reflecting Fairey's narrative about the conflict between economic interests and environmental stewardship. A significant aspect of this artwork is its activism component. A portion of the proceeds from "Sub-Standard" is directed towards Greenpeace USA, funding the organization's efforts to combat environmental harm and promote sustainability. This financial support aligns with the artwork's message, creating a direct link between art, activism, and tangible support for ecological well-being. Fairey's choice to highlight the discrepancy between subsidies for fossil fuels and renewable energy sources in his statement further amplifies the print's call to action, advocating for a reevaluation of where public funds are invested in the context of long-term planetary health. In the landscape of modern art, "Sub-Standard" by Shepard Fairey stands out as a piece that not only captures the aesthetic edge of the OBEY art movement but also embodies a deep social and environmental consciousness, driving the conversation forward in the realm of art activism.

A Poster That Helped Change the Tides Pop Art pioneer Andy Warhol once defined art as “what you can get away with.” That short provocative phrase turns up in the work of Shepard Fairey, the celebrated street artist and graphic designer who created the now-iconic Obama “Hope” poster during last year’s presidential campaign. Fairey has a knack for blurring distinctions between fine and commercial art and for using pop-culture images to connect with non-art audiences. He’s also an acknowledged master of screen printing, a commercial art technique that Warhol helped popularize through his silkscreen portraits of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and other celebrities. Of course, defiance of one sort or another ~ of government tyranny, social taboos, private property, even good taste ~ is one of the prime motivations for street art. Whether they carry a backpack full of spray paints or (in Fairey’s case) a stack of posters and a bucket of wheat paste, many street artists see themselves as part of a larger social and political struggle. Fairey is one of the best and takes street art truly up to the level of art, as does his cohort Banksy. Fairey’s art, which has its roots in the skateboarding and punk rock scenes of the 1980s and early 1990s, fits easily into this anti-authoritarian tradition. Indeed, Fairey has been arrested several times for vandalism ~ something he, like most street artists, considers a badge of honor. When a recent show opened up at the Boston Art Museum, no sooner where things winding down than the police showed up en masse to arrest him on a series of charges for "defacing property". But Fairey’s politics, like his art, are more nuanced than you might expect. Rather than espousing a particular cause or movement, most of Fairey’s work is designed to do something even more radical: get people thinking and talking about the world around them. Rock the Vote Such borrowing has gotten Fairey into trouble. The now-famous Obama poster, for example, was based on an Associated Press photograph taken at a 2006 panel discussion on the genocide in Darfur. So far, the photographer, Mannie Garcia, has declined to take legal action, but others have accused Fairey of illegally benefiting from someone else’s work. Fairey, meanwhile, has strongly defended his actions on both legal and artistic grounds. "Question everything," urges Shepard Fairey,and so, dutifully, one does ~ beginning with: Is it possible to be painfully earnest, and sizzlingly cool at the same time? And then: Could it be that graphic design is better than fine art, because more people take notice? And not least: Can a street artist with 14 arrests under his belt establish his own clothing line, receive letters of gratitude from an American president, and show in a swish art museum, all without losing his counter cultural cred? So far, Fairey seems to be doing it all and doing it well. He is not one to feel constrained by his creative artistic ambitions and seems to leap from one success to another while still maintaining his insightful edge. Only a relatively recent blip on the art world's radar, Fairey appears to be riding not just a popular swell but a veritable tsunami of cultural change. His smart, peppy, decoratively frenetic visuals are as ubiquitous as you can get without buying up great swaths of advertising space ~ and these days who has the money for that? More than any other artist of his generation, except perhaps Banksy, a fellow street artist from Britain (described by Fairey in the catalog as his "favorite artist"), Fairey has managed to capture and shape public consciousness. And that, for a visual artist, is no small thing. And yet in many ways Fairey is so right-on it hurts. Here's a guy capable of celebrating the linguistic theorist Noam Chomsky with a street poster that reads, in part, "I lived with the system and took no offense/until Chomsky lent me the necessary sense"; a man who talks humorlessly about the "semiotics of consumption," "empowering yourself," and "making a difference." Combining authoritarian chic from Russia, China, and Japan with '60s psychedelia, First World War propaganda, '50s advertising, album cover art, the Pop Art styles of Warhol, Barbara Kruger, and Roy Lichtenstein, and ~ above all ~ gorgeously rampant patterning, Fairey has the graphic designer's knack of the instant hit, along with an ability to convert quick glances into longer looks. In more recent, large-scale works such as "Commanda," "AK-47s," and "Arab Woman," the decorative patterning is taken to vertiginous extremes, conjuring the horror vacuity, or fear of empty space, associated with traditional Arab ornamentation. But Fairey's main graphic components remain crystalline, the compositions sturdy and monumental, so the eye senses a clear hierarchy of visual cues. But, in truth, my reason for this post is simple. I am an anarchist. It is time people began to understand there is actually something valuable in such pursuits. Anarchists are not the devil painted by the government of the time, they are people who think outside the box and act with love and concern if it must be done. This covers everything, and violence is not part of the way, if at all avoidable. Positive action goes a very long way. A fine example is the Vivi Palestina convoy traveling from Britain to Gaza, doing what the British government refused to do, taking aid to the people who need aid, bypassing the system completely. But also, street artists recognize that some people are intimidated by galleries so they go out there and put their work up for all to see. Thank heavens for this in a world becoming greyer every day! PLEASE ENLARGE THESE THUMBS TO FULLY APPRECIATE THE CRAFTSMANSHIP OF SHEPARD FAIREY. Peace Girl Nouveau Red Rose Girl Peace Goddess Zapatista Woman Peace Mujer Peace Woman Mujer Fatale Muslim Woman Afrocentric (Black Panther Angela Davis) Arab Woman Red Sunsets to Die For Proud Parents Offset Peace Bomber Vivi la Revolucion Dual of Humanity One Duality of Humanity Three Duality of Humanity Four Malcolm X Tupac Blue Bob Marley Uncle Scam POW War is Over 1984 and Animal Farm Guns and Roses Rose Shackle Love Unites Rise Above Kiss Me Deadly Peace Bomber World Police State Champs Gold OPERATION OIL FREEDOM Lotus Ornament Red No, I'm Vegetarian Molotov Man Visual Disobedience Toxicity Inspector Big Brother City Cold Chillin Blue The Cost of Oil Tyrant Boot A Mutt Like Me More Militerry Say Yes Welcome From Iraq Monkey Pod Peace Tree Zeppelin Mothership Rock the Casbah Chinese Soldiers as Street Art Join the Revolution

Shepard Fairey est un artiste américain né en 1970 à Charleston, en Caroline du Sud. Fairey commence sa carrière artistique à l'âge de 14 ans en réalisant

The posters, all depicting women, are downloadable from the artist's website, where he encourages using them for protest.