Shepard Fairey on Street Art

Saturday, February 7, 2009


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8 comments:

Jay Montgomery said...

I love his work, but with fame comes scrutiny. Check out these supposed Fairy infringements.

http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

Rick said...

Good find, Jay. I always knew his work was derivative, but had no idea to what extent. This is a valuable topic for discussion in class.

JMB said...

He "appropriates" work from older styles and changes it to fit his agenda, he is anti-capitalistic and makes reference to early socialism posters. Its perfectly ligit!

Rick said...

That's exactly why this is a good topic for discussion; when is appropriation legit, and when does it cross the line and become plagiarism. Lawyers and philosophers have argued about this for centuries, and the debate rages on!

the argyle academy said...

I say he's legit. The whole point is that he work references old propaganda in a way that strips it of its message and content. It's the same as lichtenstein's comic paintings or warhol's diagram paintings, no?

Rick said...

There is clearly a great deal of debate among artists, art historians and attorneys about appropriation and it's implications. This entry on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appropriation_(art)(not the most scholarly source) is the tip of the iceberg, but it shines a light on an age-old dilemma about what art is, and what is art.

Rick Lovell said...

The Colbert Report did an addendum story on the famous Obama "Hope" poster that Fairey parlayed into a promotional, if not monetary goldmine this campaign season. It was an interesting and very funny discussion, and a follow-up to a previous piece he did with Fairey in January. I would post a YouTube video from that January interview, but Viacom has pulled it for legal reasons...curiouser and curiouser.

Jay Montgomery said...

Here it is on Hulu.com

http://www.hulu.com/watch/57787/the-colbert-report-obama-poster-debate---david-ross-and-ed-colbert