As a harsh critic of Shepard Fairey, I feel a bit hypocritical posting about this show, but I really feel like it deserves some attention. Printed Matters is the name of Fairey’s latest show taking place at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles. What interests me most about this exhibition is the fact that it is a show purely compiled of Fairey’s prints. With the increase in popularity of street art books (incidentally Fairey will be signing copies of Beyond the Street Art at the opening reception), the hit the economy has incurred in the past year and the launch of Christie’s Multiplied Art Fair, prints are becoming an essential component of mainstream commercial art work. Usually working with the themes of repetition, borrowed images and urban cultures, Fairey’s prints remind the viewer of classic dated typography and muted design, while still managing to fuse Dada-esque collage in his work. Hopefully, Printed Matters will finally show some new work by Shepard Fairey that breathes some life back into the stale overused pieces that have been pooping up in group shows and outdoor murals this past year. Give me something to be positive about, please. It is pathetic when the nicest words I have for an artist’s work coincide with the launch of a vinyl toy (which was indeed pretty awesome to say the least.)
Photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects