Current Visual Culture: Obey Giant

Current Visual Culture: Shepard Fairey(Obey Giant)

Cesar Solis

BACKGROUNDHe is originally from Charleston, South Carolina. As a kid and as a teenager he was a skater and heavily into music. He says that those core things have a lot to do with what he does now. When he realized that he wasnt going to become a professional skater he decided to focus on his art. In 1992 he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. During his tenure there is when Obey Giant was born and the rest is history.

Andre the Giant Has a Posse (1989)1989 in Providence, Rhode Island. Shepard Fairey was working at a skateboard shop and At the skate shop is where he was trying to show his friend how to make a stencil. So he flipped the thru the newspaper and stumbled upon a picture of former wrestler Andre the Giant. Andre was 74 and weighed 520. Fairey added has a posse and posted it all over and people soon got his attention without him even trying. Obey Giant was born.

OBEY Giant (Repeated Style)Fairey cleaned up the image and not only did it become his signature image but he added the OBEY in bright red and posted multiple next to each other. He would posted multiple of them in basically any spot he could find all over the country. This image also became his signature image

GIGANTE (1997)Fairey's works are extremely orientated around politics and the idea of peace. With the use of Guevara, he is instantly showing his intention by creating a comparison between his own brand and one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. Gigante means giant, of course for Obey Giant.

Shock and Awe Z-Tip and Chuck DIn 2005 he collaborated with Z-Trip on a limited edition 12-inch featuring Chuck D entitled "Shock and Awe"

Public Enemy- Obey GiantIn August 2008, Fairey, Friedman and Chuck D released a limited edition Public Enemy print that sold-out immediately. Fight The Power

The Black Eyed Peas-Monkey Business Album Cover (2005)Monkey Business is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group, The Black Eyed Peas. It was released on June 7, 2005. Sold over 10,000,000 copies and featured hits like "Pump It, "Don't Phunk with My Heart" and "My Humps"

The Rolling Stones 50th AnniversaryThe band asked artist Shepard Fairey to update their iconic tongue logo with a sleek new design.

Walk The Line (2005)Fairey was getting bad reviews for all his commercial work because people said it wasnt his style and they said that he was a sell out. For example the poster he made for Walk the Line: the movie. Fairey just simply replied that it was good business and there was no problem with it. They asked him to do it, so he did. He added that more companies came to him for advertisement but he denied them like Hummer because he didnt agree with the company and with what the company was doing. The film grossed a total of $186,438,883 worldwide

Make Art Not War (2006)

More of a basic and traditional kind of art that Fairey does but nevertheless its important to him that people see his kind of mind set.

Barack Obama "Hope" poster (2008)Fairey came out with this image right before the elections of 2008 and he showed his support. This piece went viral and quickly became one of his most famous pieces and one of the most famous of our time. It was so powerful that the Obama Administration embraced the image and started working with Fairey.

MVP(2008)My personal favorite is this piece of Kobe Bryant in 2008 his only Regular Season MVP Award.

THE ENDMy HumpsBlack Eyed PeasHip Hop/Rap2005iTunes v4.7.1.30, QuickTime 6.5.2