Shepard Fairey is going to NYC soon, and he’s making sure you take notice. Of course, the main event will be his May Day solo show and he’s also looking for legal spots to poster, but now OBEY Clothing has announced that they will have a pop-up shop in NYC just a few minutes walk away from the Bowery and Houston Street wall where he will (presumably) be making a huge mural.
Via OBEY Giant
Black Rat Press have just sent me a few images as a preview to their upcoming group show Now’s The Time. The line-up is pretty sick. Black Rat have really found some fantastic paintings from some of the world’s top street artists (past and present) including Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, Keith Haring, Swoon, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Os Gêmeos. The show opens Thursday April 22nd, and I expect the gallery is going to be packed. Here’s what I can reveal so far:
That’s got to be the best Angela Davis (edit: okay apparently this isn’t of Angela Davis, but it still looks amazing) I’ve seen from Shepard Fairey.
Swoon keeps getting better and better and better. Definitely my favorite living artist.
While it’s only a drawing, how often do you get a see a Basquiat in person? This is something special for sure.
More news in the ongoing Shepard Fairey / AP lawsuit over the use of a photograph to create Fairey’s iconic HOPE poster. Back in October, Fairey admitted to submitting false images into evidence and deleting images off of his computer that clearly showed which photograph he used to create his poster. A judge has ordered Fairey to say exactly which files were deleted and when, as well as name anybody who may have helped him tamper with evidence (originally, Shepard claimed that he alone was involved in the cover-up. At this point, it’s unclear if his statement was accurate or not.)
Via Artinfo
Sticker Phiends III is the 3rd annual sticker show in Phoenix, Arizona and it opens on Friday. Two reasons that this is particularly exciting: 1. Robots Will Kill and Obey are sending some stickers and 2. it’s street art in the USA but not in LA, SF or NYC.
Do you own some property in New York City? Do you like Shepard Fairey’s artwork (of course you do)? Shepard Fairey is looking for legal wall that he can paste on in April to help promote his May Day solo show at Deitch Projects. This is a pretty unique and awesome opportunity (and hey, if you don’t like what Shepard does, just rip it down), so if you have a wall, I urge you to get in touch with OBEY. More details on the OBEY website.
Via Arrested Motion
Black Rat Projects (formally Black Rat Press) finally has their first show of 2010 opening in a few weeks. It’s called Now’s The Time. It’s a group show and it brings together artwork by some of the top names in street art’s history: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Banksy, Barry McGee, Faile and Os Gêmeos. I’ve heard about this show coming together over the last few months, and I like to joke that the idea behind it is strikingly similar to The Thousands, but two artists really separate this show from The Thousands and other similar exhibition that have been put on in the past: Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It’s not often that a gallery has put on an exhibition of what is claimed to be the world’s top street art and been able to include those two essential artists in the line up alongside newer artists artists like Faile. This is going to be a very interesting show. Now’s The Time opens April 22nd at Black Rat Projects in London.
Via Pimp Guides
News is starting to surface about Shepard Fairey’s solo show at Deitch Projects in New York City. Most importantly, the show is called May Day and runs from May 1st through the 29th. This flag piece looks amazing, which is particularly good news since a few other pictures from the show have been surfacing lately, and the portraits that Shepard is painting look to me like he’s just phoning it in.
Here’s the press release:
Deitch Projects is pleased to present May Day, an exhibition of new work by Shepard Fairey, as its final project. Titled not only in reference to the day of the exhibition’s opening, the multiple meanings of May Day resonate throughout the artist’s new body of work. Originally a celebration of spring and the rebirth it represents, May Day is also observed in many countries as International Worker’s Day or Labor Day, a day of political demonstrations and celebrations coordinated by unions and socialist groups. “Mayday” is also the distress signal used by pilots, police and firefighters in times of emergency.
With energy and urgency befitting the title May Day, Fairey captures the radical spirit of each of his subjects, using portraiture to celebrate some of the artists, musicians and political activists he most admires. Says Fairey, “These people I’m portraying were all revolutionary, in one sense or another. They started out on the margins of culture and ended up changing the mainstream. When we celebrate big steps that were made in the past, it reminds us that big steps can be made in the future.”
Many of the steps Fairey refers to involve the advocacy of the working class, put forth in the songs of Joe Strummer and Woody Guthrie and the writings of Cornel West, and among the works of other heroes portrayed in May Day. International Worker’s Day celebrated in nearly 100 countries throughout the world, commemorates the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago when a peaceful rally supporting workers on strike was disrupted by a bomb, and then a barrage of police gunfire. Because of negative sentiment surrounding the incident, U.S. President Grover Cleveland decided it was best to avoid celebrating the day, but it is precisely such sentiment that Fairey believes must be voiced: “It’s a day to express frustration with the powers that be, but also a day for activists to pursue ideals.” In May Day, he does both, with images supporting free speech and bemoaning the U.S. two party political system, pushing for renewable energy and critiquing corporate propaganda.
In Fairey’s mind, the persistence of difficulties across all of these arenas—political, environmental, economic, cultural—points to that third meaning of May Day: a distress signal. “By now we thought we would be in post-Bush utopia, but we’re still having to call attention to these problems,” he remarks. Like any mayday call, however, the sounding of the alarm also brings hope for help on the way. “If we stay silent, there’s no hope,” Fairey muses. “But if we make noise, if we put our ideas out there, then maybe we can make a change like the people in the portraits have done.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND INQUIRIES ABOUT PURCHASING ARTWORK PLEASE CONTACT
DEITCH PROJECTS
p: 212.343.7300
e: info@deitch.com
www.DEITCHPROJECTS.com
There seems to be so much going on right now with street art being sold or auctioned off for charity and other good causes, so I thought I’d throw a few things all together in one post. Also, how great is it that Shepard Fairey is involved in so many of these things? See it all after the jump… Continue reading “Art for charity”
The latest iteration of Shepard Fairey’s Supply and Demand exhibition opened this week at CAC in Cincinnati. I think it’s the same as what’s already been in Boston and Pittsburgh, but of course it also means that Shepard is in Cincinnati to put up some murals. Have a look:
Super Touch Art is back from hiatus and they are back with a bang. One of their first posts is a visit to Shepard Fairey’s studio. Fairey is busy preparing for his show at Deitch Projects in a few months, and Super Touch Art have a bit of a sneak peak. Check it out on Super Touch Art.
