How Punk Influenced Shepard Fairey – Formative Years of Obey Giant in Michigan | WIDEWALLS

An American contemporary street artist, graphic designer, activist, and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene, Shepard Fairey has inspired generations of artists with his through provoking and often controversial pieces. An icon of the contemporary art scene in the country and beyond, he is best known for his Obey series, a street art project and an experiment in phenomenology, his ubiquitous Hope image created originally as a grassroots activism tool to support Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and the pervasive We the People poster series for the 2017 Women’s March and beyond. The first ten years of the artist’s practice are explored in the current exhibition at the Cranbrook Art Museum. Titled Shepard Fairey: Salad Days, 1989-1999, the show goes back to the roots of his graphic language and philosophies of the punk scene.The Influence of Punk Ethos Highly talented and dedicated, Shepard Fairey has been a consistent presence in national and international art scenes since the 1990s. In his early practice, punk ethos had a decisive role. “When I discovered punk ...

Tagged: graffiti, Shepard Fairey, street art