OBEY to be better

"Even if I only made a little bit of a difference, if I can make any difference at all, it was important to me!" Fairey’s work, which combines elements of graffiti, pop art, business art, appropriation art, and Marxist theory, has long been divisive.

 

Introducing the American artist Shepard Fairey is a bit like explaining whose portrait he famously altered for the "Hope" campaign that was widely used by Barack Obama's supporters in 2008. Since the mid 1980s he has created outstanding (then: street) art that is strong, iconic and expressive. Shepard Fairey is also a thoughtful, committed, and outspoken activist who revives the artistic virtues of standing up for the freedom of speech and fighting for rational and non-corporate ways of dealing with the issue of copyright. Obey the interview GESTALTEN.TV did with him in Los Angeles in late 2010!