YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – An exhibition of large silkscreen and mixed collage works by Shepard Fairey will open Sunday, June 8, at The Butler Institute of American Art and run through Aug. 31.
“Facing the Giant: Three Decades of Dissent” features 30 key works by Fairey from the past 30 years with messages of empowerment.
Words such as propagandist, arch manipulator, inciter and provocateur have been used to describe Fairey, whom many hail as the originator of the modern urban art scene, according to a press release from the museum.
He might be best known for his Obey Giant works that incorporate the word “obey” as a way to provoke contemplation of society, and also the “Hope” poster created for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
The 30 selected artworks in the exhibition are 30- by 41-inch hand-painted multiples – prints on unique collaged backgrounds with additional stenciling and embellishments – done in 2019.
For Fairey, it began with an absurd sticker illustration of the wrestler Andre the Giant, which then evolved into an exploration of control, questioning control and questioning the giant monolithic forces that we are all subjected to. The artist confronts these issues with his work, revealing the duality to the name. The title ‘Facing the Giant’ references the giant of Fairey’s prolifically disseminated Obey Giant art campaign – which uses a stylized image of Andre the Giant – but more enduringly, the giant issues and forces he confronts through his art.
Coming from punk rock, skateboarding and rebellious subcultures, Fairey started off doing work in the street without permission.
In 2008, he became a worldwide household name when he created the renowned Obama “Hope” poster in red and blue colors.
Since then, Fairey’s work has continued to reach the masses.
Fairey’s megasphere installation under the Eiffel Tower, titled “Earth Crisis,” brought attention to the climate and sustainability debate. His work continues to address current topics of discussion across his worldwide solo exhibitions and museum shows, from Los Angeles to Paris, London, Seoul, New York and Munich.
A mixture of parody and protest, Fairey’s work serves to subvert the very medium to which it attaches itself. Plastered posters adorn advertising billboards that in his own words
“market nothingness,” while large-scale posters with the simple one word message “obey” stir the masses.
The “Facing the Giant” exhibition is a curated series of images chosen for their importance aesthetically and conceptually, and for addressing critical topics and themes frequently recurring throughout Fairey’s career.
“This show is a reflection, not a retrospective, because I’m still very actively creating new art, but I like the idea of highlighting both the continuity and evolution of my art and concepts over 30 years,” the artist said in 2019.
A South Carolina native, Fairey created the “Andre the Giant has a Posse” sticker in 1989. It transformed into the Obey Giant art campaign, with imagery that has changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. After more than 30 years, his work has evolved into an acclaimed body of art, including the 2008 “Hope” portrait of Obama, found at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
In 2017, the artist collaborated with Amplifier to create the “We The People” series, which was recognizable during the Women’s Marches and other rallies worldwide in defense of national and global social justice issues.
Fairey’s stickers, guerilla street art presence and public murals are recognizable globally.
His works are in the permanent collections of the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and many others.
He has painted more than 110 large-scale murals across six continents.
Pictured at top: Shepard Fairey’s “War by Numbers” piece will be included in the Butler Institute of American Art exhibition.